The Parting of the Ways
by Obsessed With 52
Summary: A/U after the chapter of the same name in Goblet of Fire. A few days after Dumbledore and the Ministry "reach a parting of the ways", certain people decide that if Harry Potter is to survive the upcoming war, important changes to his life need to be made. I don't own Harry Potter.
1. Lying Low at Lupin's

**_A/N: Welcome to my latest offering, The Parting of the Ways. This story starts in Goblet of Fire just after the chapter called The Parting of the Ways, after Dumbledore tells Sirius to lie low at Lupin's while Harry Potter is in the hospital wing after the Third Task. Any apparent "bashing" of certain characters is unintentional._**

**_I would also like to wish my good friend, heronlove, a happy birthday today (April 6th), I hope you enjoy my new story!_**

Chapter One: Lying Low at Lupin's

Sirius Black had been at his old friend's house for two days now, but it was not where he wanted to be. The place he felt he should be was at Hogwarts with his godson who was still in the hospital wing after his ordeal. The ordeal being that he had witnessed the rebirth of Lord Voldemort. Sirius Black's godson was none other than Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. Unfortunately for both of them, Sirius had not been around for Harry to see him grow up; this was because he had been framed for a crime he did not commit by his former friend Peter Pettigrew. Sirius had only last year become the first person to escape from Azkaban Prison single handed, and was still on the run. Now, though, he had been sent here because Voldemort was back and Dumbledore needed him to be here so Remus could start to re-alert the Order of the Phoenix, or as Dumbledore said, "The old crowd".

The Order of the Phoenix was and is a resistance group formed by Albus Dumbledore to fight Dark forces, but in principle, Lord Voldemort and his followers known as the Death Eaters.

Tonight, Remus had organised a meeting with a few people. The first to arrive was Sirius' cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, alongside Alastor Moody, who had recovered from his time as a prisoner in his own trunk for a year while being impersonated by Barty Crouch Junior, and then three more people arrived, Molly, Bill and Charlie Weasley.

Sirius greeted them all cautiously, but Tonks was having none of it as she flung her arms around his neck hugging him for dear life telling him she always knew he was innocent. This came as a huge relief to him as he had missed her growing up as well.

Once the pleasantries were over Remus led them into his kitchen and made tea while the others took seats around the table. When the tea was made, Remus sat down at the table and began to speak.

'Now, you know why we're all here, there are some things that we have to discuss, so let's get started. Tonks, as you work in the Auror office, you are privy to the goings on, do you know of any Aurors who would join the Order?'

Tonks blushed as Remus addressed her but composed herself before answering, 'Well, I think Kingsley Shacklebolt would join, that's for sure, but others, I really don't know, as for Scrimegeour, I think he's going to keep quiet for now.'

'I suppose one man is better than nothing, but I know Arthur Weasley will be trying his best to find out where others stand as discretely as possible, am I right, Molly?' said Remus.

'I think so, Arthur has plenty of contacts around the Ministry and is generally well-liked by his colleagues and you can count on him to be discrete,' she replied.

Remus then cleared his throat and said, 'The next thing we have to discuss is Harry. Now, as you all know he has a part to play in this war, and I feel he needs to be prepared as best as possible, I know some of you feel he should be kept in the dark about certain things, and I agree to an extent, but he will find a way to find out on his own.

'The next things that have to be addressed are Harry's friends. Now I spent a year teaching at Hogwarts and I was in an excellent position to observe and find out a little about them. You see I was a little surprised that Harry is not close to Neville Longbottom. His parents, Frank and Alice, were good friends to James and Lily, and as they were born within a day of one another it was thought the pair would be friends. I am afraid what I have to say next will no doubt upset Molly, Bill and Charlie, but I feel that Ron is a negative influence on Harry. Please, just hear me out before you say anything. In the year I taught at Hogwarts I found that Harry had taken the same electives as Ron, I feel that this is a mistake. Harry should have taken Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as opposed to Divination. Also, I found Ron's work to be below standard, and compared with the rest of his siblings, generally poor. However, I'm not judging Ron purely on academics, there is also the matter of his behaviour towards Harry after the champion's selection. He walked away from Harry when Harry needed him the most, and it hurt Harry very deeply. I know they made up eventually, but I'm sure Harry still feels hurt by it all. In conclusion I feel that Ron is too immature to be by Harry's side for this war, I feel that Ron holds Harry back from doing his best in class, and Harry needs to be the best. I feel that Neville would make a better friend in the fact that Neville actually tries his best, but he also needs a bit of confidence, after all, having Snape bullying him in Potions classes does nothing for his confidence. Does anyone have anything to say?'

'Remus, you are like a brother to me, but I think you're talking shite,' said Sirius, 'Ron's a good kid, and he made a mistake, after all, James and I had our fallings out too, he reminds me of me sometimes, and Harry needs Ron more than either of them know. Besides, this is the same kid that stood on a broken leg to put himself between who he thought was a mass murderer and his two best friends.'

Before Remus could speak, Bill cleared his throat to begin speaking.

'I'm sorry, Mum, but I feel that Remus has a point. I've seen Ron's marks and I'm disappointed in him and them. Don't misunderstand me, I love my baby brother, but I am disappointed in him and his behaviour, but not just toward Harry but Hermione too.'

'I'm with Bill on this one, Mum,' said Charlie.

'You are both prepared to still stand by Harry even if Ron is not going to be a part of this?' asked Remus.

'Yes, this is about fighting a war for our way of life,' said Bill.

'I agree with Bill,' said Charlie.

'As do I,' said Molly, speaking at last, 'Ronald cannot be a part of this, and when the time comes for our family to come to Headquarters I shall make alternative arrangements for him to stay elsewhere.'

'Shall we bring this to a vote?' asked Remus, 'all in favour of Neville replacing Ron as Harry's best friend and Harry severing ties with Ron?'

Molly, Bill, Charlie and Remus all raised their hands.

'Opposed?' asked Remus.

Sirius and Tonks raised their hands.

'Are you abstaining, Alastor?'

'Yes, I am,' replied Moody.

'So by a vote of four to two, and one abstention, we have a motion,' said Remus.

'Remus, this is ridiculous, who is going to make Harry see this is the right thing to do? I ask because it won't be me, I think this is a mistake,' said Sirius.

'I shall do it, Sirius, I plan on seeing Harry tomorrow anyway,' Remus replied.

'Great, just dandy, but I suppose now you're going to explain to us all that Hermione is not a good friend either?' said Sirius.

'On the contrary, I feel that she is a good influence on Harry – to an extent. I feel she is too obsessed with academics; she almost made herself ill with all the extra work she took on in the year I taught at Hogwarts. She is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most intelligent witch I've ever met. Her theory work is excellent but her practical application of Defence is not as good. Her fear of failure is something that drives her but it could be her biggest Achilles heel. I feel that she would find it very difficult to choose between Harry and Ron when they go their separate ways,' said Remus.

'What do you suggest then?' said Bill.

'I feel that Harry needs Hermione, but her friendship with Ron will make it difficult for them. I suggest a couple of conditions for their friendship. The first one being that Hermione needs to sever ties with Ron as well and the second one being that she help Neville with his confidence. He needs help in Potions and Transfiguration, but more than that, he needs a girlfriend to boost his self-esteem even more,' said Remus.

'That's bollocks, Remus, who are you to play matchmaker? Do you even know if Neville likes Hermione?' said Sirius.

'According to Ginny he asked her to the Yule Ball,' said Molly.

'But does Hermione like Neville? You can't force these things, Remus!' said Sirius.

'If she wants to be Harry's friend she'll have to, I know you don't like it, but that's the only way it'll work. Harry needs her but we can't have her being friends with Ron on the side,' said Remus.

'Well, I think this is a shit plan and I want no part of it, Remus, and when it goes tits up, you'll be the one to get the blame!' said Sirius.

'So long as I get the credit when it all works out perfectly,' said Remus.

Sirius merely said, 'Whatever.'

'The next thing on the agenda is Ginny. I know she is very taken with Harry and it's only a matter of time before Harry likes her back, she is, after all, a redhead,' said Remus.

'What do you mean by that?' asked Molly.

'The Potter curse,' began Remus, 'all Potter men are cursed with bad eyesight, unruly jet black hair, and falling in love with red-haired young ladies.'

'That's the first thing you've been right about since we got here, Remus,' said Sirius.

'All I'm merely suggesting is that Harry make the effort to get to know Ginny a little better by including her in his new circle of friends, along with Fred and George, of course,' said Remus, ignoring Sirius.

'I think that's acceptable, I'll come with you to Hogwarts tomorrow, Remus, and have a chat with Fred, George and Ginny, to let them know what's happening next,' said Bill.

'Excellent, then I think we're done here,' said Remus.

There were few murmurs as those who left, did so.


	2. Telling Harry

Chapter Two: Telling Harry

When Remus got to the hospital wing the next day, he found that Harry had visitors in the forms of Ron and Hermione.

'Hello, Professor Lupin,' said Hermione.

'I'm not your professor anymore, so you can call me Remus,' he said.

'Um, okay,' said Hermione.

Remus smiled at them before saying, 'Do you mind if I speak with Harry alone?'

'No, it's fine, come on, Ron,' said Hermione, before leaving with Ron.

'Hello, Harry,' said Remus.

'Hello, Remus, how's Snuffles?' said Harry in reply.

'He's well and sends you his best, Harry, but now you and I have some things to discuss, but I need you to read this first,' said Remus and he gave Harry a list of instructions.

As Harry read the list of instructions his eyebrows went further and further up his head before saying, 'Remus, this list is ridiculous, I can't do any of that!'

'If you are worried about what the Weasleys will say, I've already got them on board. Bill is speaking with Ginny and the twins as we speak. Molly is also privy to these plans,' said Remus.

'What about Sirius? What does he think?' asked Harry.

'He thinks I'm wrong, but I want you to survive, Harry, I want what's best for you and you can't pretend you aren't still hurt about what happened between you and Ron …' said Remus. 'We took a vote on it, Harry, I, Molly, Bill and Charlie Weasley are in agreement.'

'I see …' said Harry, 'but this thing with Neville and Hermione? She won't like being told who to date.'

'If your friendship is important enough to her …'

'Are you sure?' asked Harry.

'It has to be done, Harry, especially the bit where Ron is concerned, he is holding you back,' said Remus.

Harry looked Remus in the eye and nodded, Remus sat down on his bedside and shared his reasons for his plans while Harry asked why he had to go back to the Dursleys, and Remus told him why before leaving Harry alone.

Twenty minutes later, Ginny, Fred and George came into the hospital wing and sat by Harry's bedside.

'We just had an interesting talk with Bill, he said changes need to be made and we're in,' said Fred, as George and Ginny nodded.

'Bill's right, Ron is an immature idiot and can't be relied upon,' said Ginny.

'I'll go and get Neville, okay?' said George.

George went to get Neville and came back ten minutes later.

'George said you wanted to see me, Harry?' said Neville.

'Yeah, you see I'm severing ties with Ron and I need someone I can trust not to ditch me when the going gets tough, are you up for it? Can you handle it?' said Harry.

'Are you sure about this, Harry? It's just I'm not the bravest or the smartest person in the world …' said Neville.

'You are brave, Neville, you were put in Gryffindor for a reason, and you are smart, you are the best at Herbology in the whole year,' said Harry, and then Harry told Neville about the arrangements where Hermione was concerned.

'You _do_ like her, don't you, Neville?' asked Harry.

Neville gave a shy nod.

'Don't be embarrassed, Neville, you're amongst friends here,' said Ginny.

'But will Hermione go for it, though?' asked Neville.

'Neville, she will if she still wants to be my friend,' said Harry.

'I would be happy to be your best friend, Harry, even if Hermione says no,' said Neville, offering his hand to Harry, which Harry took and they shook hands.


	3. Dismissal and Ultimatum

Chapter Three: Dismissal and Ultimatum

When Harry was let out of the hospital wing, he made for the empty classroom in which he had arranged to meet Neville, Ginny and the twins. Once settled down he gave the twins a nod to tell them he was ready to speak to Ron. The twins left to collect Ron from the Great Hall as it was breakfast time. When they got there they saw that Hermione was not there.

'Morning, Ron, where's Hermione?' asked Fred.

'In the library, why?' he replied.

'Oh, just wondering, anyway, Harry wants to see you,' said George.

'Where is he?' asked Ron, 'is he still in the hospital wing?'

'No, he got let out this morning, come on, we'll take you to him,' said Fred.

'Okay,' said Ron.

The twins led Ron to the room where Harry, Neville and Ginny were waiting and escorted him inside.

'Hey, Harry, hey, Ginny,' said Ron, 'Neville.'

'Take a seat, Ron,' said Harry as he indicated a chair in front of the desk he was sitting behind.

Ron complied and said, 'You wanted to see me?'

'I did, Ron …' said Harry.

'So what's the problem?' asked Ron.

'Well, according to a few people, you are. You see a few people feel that you are holding me back and that you are lazy and immature. These people include your mother, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny, as well as Remus Lupin, and having heard the case against you, I have concluded that they are right. The way you treated me when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire indicates that I cannot trust you. So as of right now I am terminating our friendship, you can go now,' said Harry.

'So, let me get this straight, I make one mistake and that's it, fuck off, Ron?' said Ron, angrily.

'In a manner of speaking, I suppose,' said Harry.

'After four years of friendship, after sacrificing myself and getting knocked out by a giant stone chess queen so you could save the fucking Philosopher's Stone, following you down into the Chamber of Secrets without a working wand, putting myself between you and someone we thought was going to kill you while I stood on a broken leg, means nothing to you?'

'The stakes are much higher now, I need someone who won't run out on me,' said Harry.

'It looks like I can assume that the six members of my family you mentioned earlier are choosing you over me?' said Ron.

'It would appear so,' said Harry.

'Well, Potter, if you want my family, you are fucking welcome to them, it's as Dumbledore said the other night, "we have reached a parting of the ways", so, fuck you, we're through,' said Ron, and he stood up and left the room.

Ron angrily walked away from the room as he needed to vent, so he walked to the seventh floor to find the room he found earlier in the year when he and Harry weren't talking. He walked back and forth three times before the door appeared and went inside. Once inside he saw that the room had provided a whole load of dummies to curse, as well as to punch and kick into oblivion. Once he had finished he collapsed on to the floor as the room went dark.

Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Harry gave the twins the okay to bring Hermione up to the room.

The twins left and found Hermione in the library. They then told her that Harry was out of the hospital wing and wanted to speak to her and that they were going to escort her to where Harry was waiting. Hermione went with them and when they got there, she was invited to sit down in the same chair as Ron was previously.

'So, you are probably wondering what this is all about?' said Harry.

'Yes, I am,' Hermione replied.

'Well, before I tell you I think you should know that Ronald and I are no longer friends. As you know Voldemort is back and I need people I can count on, and given his attitude when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire, he is not one of them, so we're through. You have always been a great friend to me and I appreciate everything you have ever done for me, and more importantly, I still want to be friends with you, are you with me so far?' said Harry.

Hermione was shocked at what Harry had told her, she could not believe that Harry would end his friendship with Ron. The question in her head was where does this leave _her_ friendship with the two boys?

'So far, yes,' she replied.

'Good, but, and there is a big but, is that my friendship comes with a couple of conditions. The first is obvious, I need you to sever all ties with Ronald, which means no talking to him, writing to him or communicating with him in any way. The second one is that Neville here needs your help, he needs help with Potions and Transfiguration, and with his self-esteem; you see he also needs you to be more than just friends with him. I'm sorry it has to be this way, I mean I assume you and Viktor Krum are just friends, right?'

Hermione was completely taken aback by Harry's demands and general demeanour. He never asked her personal questions about anything, ever. Hermione could not help wondering what happened in that graveyard or who had told him to say and do the things he was.

'Viktor and I are just friends, nothing more,' said Hermione, answering Harry's question, but before Harry could say another word, Hermione spoke once more, 'You've said a lot here, Harry, and I need to think about it all, so may I think about all this and get back to you later?'

'That's true, I have given you a lot to think about and process, so you may think about it, but I need an answer by tonight as we leave tomorrow,' said Harry.

'Right, I'll have an answer for you by then, I'll come up to the boy's dorm before bedtime, see you then, Harry,' Hermione said as she got to her feet and then left the room.


	4. A Place to Think

Chapter Four: A Place to Think

Hermione knew one thing: she had to find Ron. She needed to talk to him, so she ran to the common room to see if he was there, but he wasn't, then she ran up to the boy's dorm to check in there but did not find him, she went down to the Great Hall to see if he was still eating, but she still did not find him, she then tried the kitchen but he was not there either. But then she suddenly remembered about Ron telling her and showing her a secret room on the seventh floor, so she made her way up to the seventh floor as quickly as she could before arriving in the corridor. She saw that the door was not there before she began pacing in front of it, thinking; _'I need to see where Ron is.'_

To her immense relief, a door appeared, and she went inside to see that the room was completely dark.

'Ron?' Hermione called out into the darkness.

'Ron, I know you're in here, please, say something …' she said.

It was then that a small spotlight appeared over Ron's head, showing that he was sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest and with an expression on his face that was anger mixed with sadness.

Hermione ran over to the corner and sat down next to him.

'Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry,' she said sadly, 'you don't deserve this I promise you.'

'Don't care, Hermione, it doesn't matter anymore,' he croaked.

'You matter, Ron,' said Hermione.

'Not to Potter and his new friends and family, I don't, so what did he have to say to you?' Ron replied.

Hermione painstakingly told Ron what Harry had told her, even the bit with having to go out with Neville.

'So what are you doing in here?' asked Ron.

'I needed a place to think and I needed to talk to you,' she replied.

'So you can make up your mind and then tell me that you don't want me in your life either?' said Ron.

'No, Ron, I haven't made up my mind yet,' she told him honestly.

'But what about Krum, aren't you going out with him?' Ron asked.

'No, we're just friends, that's all,' Hermione replied truthfully.

'Oh,' said Ron.

They sat quietly for a moment before Ron spoke again.

'Hermione?' he said tentatively.

'Yeah?' she replied.

'Um, I know you already have a lot to think about, but can I tell you something? I mean I don't want to make things more complicated for you, but I need to say this in case you choose Potter …' said Ron.

It was strange hearing Ron calling Harry by his last name, but she had a feeling Ron had something important to say.

'Okay, I'm listening,' said Hermione.

'I'm sorry,' began Ron, 'I'm sorry I've been such an arse to you. I'm sorry I ever called you a nightmare, and that you had no friends. I'm sorry I let you go off and get petrified by the basilisk, I'm sorry I was horrible to you last year, and I'm sorry I fucked up the Yule Ball for you and for the argument we had afterward in the common room. I'm sorry for everything … I'm an idiot for not asking you to the ball before Krum, I'm sorry about the way I did eventually ask, I've always known you are a girl, I noticed the moment I met you … the skirt was a bit of a giveaway … anyway, I need you to know how much you mean to me before you make your decision, Hermione … you see, well what I've come to realise is that … you are my best friend and so much more … I … love you … I love you, Hermione Granger, and now I'm going to lose you … I think I've loved you since you told me I had dirt on my nose, I realised it when I saw you after you had been petrified … it was the worst I've ever felt seeing you lying there almost lifeless … I never said anything before because I was in denial and didn't think you could ever feel the same way, but when I saw you in your beautiful dress … I realised how badly I fucked up and that I could no longer deny my feelings for you … anyway, whatever you decide to do, Hermione, I will always love you, and if you ever need me, I'll be there.'


	5. Hermione's Choice

Chapter Five: Hermione's Choice

The tears were pouring from Hermione's eyes as Ron poured his heart out to her, but he was wrong, he had not made anything more complicated for her in making her decision, he had made it very, very easy, so she said, 'Oh, Ron, that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me … and more importantly, you have not made my decision more difficult, you have made it so much easier because I love you too, Ronald Weasley …'

'Really, why?' he said, 'I'm nothing special …'

'Yes you bloody well are!' she exclaimed, startling him, but then she spoke again, this time more softly, 'You are to me, Ron, I've loved you since you knocked out that troll … then you sacrificed yourself in that chess game, belched slugs defending me, and that time when Snape called me an insufferable know-it-all, you stood up for me, and I was desperately hoping you would ask me to the Yule Ball, but you didn't, and it hurt, and you hurt me during and after the ball, too, but you've apologised, and told me that you love me, so as far as I'm concerned Harry can stick his ultimatum up his arse, now will you please kiss me?'

Ron gently placed his large hand on her soft cheek before moving towards her as she moved towards him before their lips met. The kiss was gentle but full of love on both sides, and when it was over their foreheads were touching.

'Wow … that felt amazing, Hermione …'

'I agree; I'm so glad that you're my first kiss, Ron, I love you …'

'I love you too, Hermione …'

They started to share more kisses, but as they started off with tenderness, they soon progressed into fierce and passionate snogging as their tongues battled for dominance. As they shared kiss after kiss Ron and Hermione were lying on the floor with him on top as she wrapped one of her legs around him, while they continued to make out, Ron's hand found her leg and he began to caress her gently. As Hermione felt Ron's hand on her thigh, she moaned into his mouth and she also found that as his hand moved further up her thigh and rucked up her skirt, that she wanted more. Ron's lips moved to her neck and she whimpered in pleasure as he found the most sensitive spot, saying his name. Ron whispered her name back to her in awe as he kissed her.

'I love you … I love you … I love you … I love you so much, Hermione Jean Granger …' said Ron as he kissed her neck and jawline, Hermione could only whimper and moan in response.

'Ron?'

'Yes?'

'Stop a moment …'

Ron complied and said, 'Are you all right?'

'Yes, it's just I wanted to say I love you too, Ron,' she said.

They sat up again and Ron removed his hand from her thigh and said, 'You are my whole world, Hermione, and all I have left in my life now … all that I have is yours too, granted I don't have much, but it's yours, is that enough for you?'

'All I want is _you_, Ron, all I need is _you_, now where were we?' she said.

'I do believe I was lying on top of you, kissing you and had my hand on your thigh, er, if that's okay with you?'

Hermione giggled and said, 'It's more than okay with me, in fact, I want to do more.'

'More, what do you mean by more?'

'Um, will you make love to me, Ron?'

'Hermione, are you sure?' he asked, seriously.

'Yes, I want you, Ron, so badly …' she said.

'In that case, we need a bed, I'm not going to shag you on the floor …' he said.

A large and cosy looking bed appeared in the room. Ron then got to his feet and helped Hermione to hers before scooping her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. Once there, he gently placed her down on the bed and got on top of her again before they shared more passionate kisses. As they kissed, clothes were being slowly removed as they found it hard to stop kissing long enough to concentrate on what they were doing. Then when they were down to their underwear, Ron said, 'Are you completely sure, Hermione?'

'Yes, Ron, I love you and I want you to make love to me,' she said.

Ron then grabbed his wand and cast a Contraceptive Charm upon himself and Hermione before tossing it aside again.

He pulled her towards him and said, 'I love you, Hermione.'

'I love you, Ron,' she replied.

As they were standing up, Ron reached around to unhook the white bra Hermione was wearing but he couldn't work it so Hermione did it for him, so he pulled the straps down off her shoulders and pulled it away from her breasts, dropping the bra on the floor. To his surprise, Hermione made no move to cover her breasts with her hands, so he lowered his lips to her chest and began to kiss her, lick her and gently bite and suck on her nipples, earning him a loud moan of pleasure from her.

'Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, Hermione …' he said huskily as he alternated between her breasts.

'Oh, Ron!' she moaned.

Ron then suddenly stopped to look Hermione in the eye and said, 'There's something very important I forgot to ask you.'

'What?'

'Will you be my girlfriend?' he asked.

Hermione burst out laughing and said, 'Ron, of course I will, you daft sod! Now finish what you started …'

Ron chuckled too before obeying Hermione's command. He then scooped her back into his arms and placed her back on to the bed. He then climbed on top of her and began to kiss her again. He then began to kiss his way down her body, earning more whimpers and moans from Hermione. He then started to kiss her flat stomach as he hooked his fingers on the waistband of her knickers. He shared eye contact with her for a moment and she gave him a nod before he pulled down her knickers. When they were off, he kissed his way up her legs, soft, gentle kisses to her shins before starting with open mouth kisses to her inner thighs. He ran his tongue up her soft inner thigh making her moan; he then pressed his cheek to her thigh and said,

'You have the best legs I've ever seen, and now I've found out how soft and perfect they are … you smell so good, Hermione …'

Hermione blushed, but before she could say anything, Ron had begun cunnilingus. Hermione moaned very loudly, the pleasure was incredible. She looked down to see Ron eating her pussy with the same fervour as if she were a meal. Ron was devouring her juices like an alcoholic downs Vodka. Hermione's moans were even louder now as Ron was sucking and licking her clitoris.

'Oh, Ron … yes, right there … more, please!' she moaned.

Ron did as he was told and knew that she was close.

'Oh, God, Ron … oh … oh … yes, yes … oh, fuck … I'm going to cum, Ron … yes … OH, OH, YES, YES, OH, RON!'

Hermione's orgasm hit her like a ton of bricks and she began to shudder, but Ron carried on as he lapped up her juices.

Ron stopped when Hermione started to pant and he moved up to talk to her face to face.

'Are you all right?' he asked gently.

'Oh, Ron … that was … that was … wonderful,' she said before pulling him into a kiss. Ron kissed her back with fervour as Hermione tasted herself on his tongue and lips.

Tasting herself on his lips gave Hermione the determination to return the favour so she flipped them over so she was on top of him now. However, she did not kiss her way down his body; she knelt between his legs and simply pulled down his boxers.

'Your turn,' she said with a sexy smile that told him that she wanted to do this and he need not ask.

'Do you want me to warn you?' he asked.

'No, I want to taste you, Ron,' she replied before taking his cock and started to stroke it.

'Oh, fuck, Hermione …'

Hermione smiled before licking the head.

'Oh, Hermione …'

She smiled at him again before taking him into her mouth. She then began to move her lips up and down his shaft as he caressed her hair.

'… Love you … Hermione … yes … so fucking good …'

Hermione continued and as she did she hummed which made Ron grunt out her name as he filled her mouth with his seed. She took every drop before swallowing.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she said, 'It's an odd taste, but nice …'

Ron then lunged towards her and kissed her deeply before saying, 'You are fucking incredible, Hermione, and the words I love you simply aren't enough to describe how I feel about you.'

He had spoken so gently that it brought a tear to her eye. Ron caught the tear as it left her eye and said, 'Do you still want to make love?'

'Yes, more than ever, Ron,' she replied.

They moved so Hermione was on her back again and Ron was kneeling between her legs. He then took himself in hand and said, 'Are you ready, I know this is going to hurt you, and I really wish that it won't.'

'Yes, I'm ready, Ron, please just do it,' she said.

'I love you,' he said.

'I love you too,' Hermione replied.

Ron then pushed his cock into her opening, stretching her, before finally breaking her hymen.

Hermione winced in pain as Ron checked to see if she was bleeding, which she wasn't, he then saw the pain on her face.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I hate that it hurts you, are you going to be all right?' he asked.

'I just need a minute … to get used to you …' she whispered.

Ron began placing kisses to her face, neck and hair until she told him he could move.

Their love-making was slow and tender as pleasure soon replaced pain. Words of love were exchanged in between kisses as whimpers became moans. Hermione told him to go faster, so he did, and as he did, Hermione's moans got louder.

'Faster, harder, please, Ron!' she moaned.

Ron grunted as he complied, hoping he would last long enough for her to climax. More words of love were exchanged between them as Ron made Hermione feel the most exquisite pleasure.

'Oh, God, Ron, I'm so close …' she moaned.

'Yes, Hermione, my Goddess, cum for me …' he said huskily.

'OH … OH, GOD … OH, FUCK … YES, YES … OH, ROOOOONNNNNN!' Hermione screamed as she came hard.

Ron felt Hermione's orgasm as she started to shudder and allow the pleasure to wash over her before he climaxed with a cry of her name to the heavens. He then fell into her embrace and they held each other in place as they recovered.

'Am I crushing you?' he asked.

'No, I like it,' she told him and to emphasise her words she wrapped her legs around his waist to hold him in place.

After a few minutes, Ron raised himself up on his elbows to look Hermione in the eyes. She gave him another sexy smile before he lowered his lips to hers.

'That was wonderful, Ron,' she said.

'No regrets, then?' he asked.

'None whatsoever, my love,' she replied.

'Wanna go again?' he asked.

'God, yes,' she replied and then she unwrapped her legs from around his waist, flipped them over so she was on top, before having another go …


	6. Breaking News in Style

Chapter Six: Breaking News in Style

It was a few hours later and Ron and Hermione were in each other's arms, naked and content. They had been making love for the last few hours and now fatigue had caught up with them at last. Ron held Hermione in his arms delicately as he stroked her spine and ran his other hand through her luscious hair, while Hermione listened to his heartbeat and let out several sighs of pure contentment.

'I love you, Hermione,' said Ron.

'I love you too, Ron,' Hermione replied.

'I can't believe this is happening … I mean how can what started out as one of the worst days of your life, suddenly become the best day of your life?' he asked her.

'I don't know, Ron, but right now I'm just so happy to be in your arms,' she told him.

'Although a part of me is scared that I'm going to wake up and all this will have been a bloody dream,' said Ron.

'A good dream, though …' said Hermione.

'Yes, but more like cruel. I've just had the most incredible few hours of my life and to wake up from a dream like this … well, it would be cruel, wouldn't it? Besides, I'm still amazed that you chose me over Krum and Potter …'

'Oh, Ron, of course I would choose you, I'm in love with you. I loved Harry like a brother, but … you are far more important to me. I love you more than anything, Ron.'

Ron kissed Hermione's hair and said, 'Thank you, thank you for loving me back … and, just so you know, Hermione, I'm in love with you, too.'

They led there in silence with big, happy smiles on their faces for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again.

'What do you think is going to happen now?'

'In what way?' he asked.

'Well, between you and your family, us and everyone else,' said Hermione.

'They aren't my family any more, Hermione, you are, and not in a sisterly or any other female relative way either. You are my family now,' Ron said.

'What do you think will happen when you go back to the Burrow?' she asked after she gave him a huge smile.

'Don't know, but it can't be good. After all, five siblings and one parent against one of me …'

'I wish I could be there to help you,' said Hermione, sadly.

'I'll write to you,' he said.

Hermione then sat up abruptly as she looked as though she had been struck with an idea. She then closed her eyes for a moment before two pieces of parchment appeared. She then grabbed them and said, 'We can use this, Ron, it's a special parchment; whatever you write on yours will appear on mine and vice versa, do you see?'

'Yeah … that's bloody brilliant, Hermione, what would I do without you?' he exclaimed.

'You'll never find out because I'm not going anywhere,' she said before lying back down on top of him.

'With these I'll be able to talk to you when things are going crap at the Burrow … I mean I'm bound to get treated like shit by the twins and Ginny, get funny looks from Bill and the cold shoulder from my mother …' Ron said.

'What will you do?' Hermione asked.

'Dunno, probably leave when it gets as bad as I think it will.'

'You can come to my house, Ron, I'll tell my parents something so you can stay with me, I don't know what, but I'll think of something, I promise you,' Hermione told him.

'Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden to you and your parents,' he said honestly.

'You won't be,' she said kissing his chest over his heart.

'I wonder what the time is …' said Ron.

Hermione looked at her watch and said, 'It's ten past five, and the leaving feast is at eight pm.'

'So that gives us about two and a half hours, whatever shall we do in the meantime?' he said, smirking.

'I think we can manage some more love-making, although I'm going to be sore afterwards,' she said as she straddled him.

'We don't have to if you don't want to, love,' he said in a gentle voice.

'It'll be worth it, and besides I can always ask the room for a potion to cure any soreness …' she told him before they started to make love again …

Exactly two and half hours later, Ron and Hermione were putting on their clothes again. Hermione was facing a mirror as she re-buttoned her shirt when Ron wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck.

'You're gorgeous, Hermione, have I ever told you that?' he said.

'You might've mentioned it a few times in the last few hours,' she said, smiling at him through the mirror.

'You're incredibly beautiful and sexy, you know,' he said.

Hermione blushed and said, 'So are you, Ron; handsome and sexy.'

'When are you supposed to tell Potter your decision?' he asked.

'After the Leaving Feast, just before bedtime, why?' she replied, before turning around to wrap her arms around his neck.

'Just wondered,' he replied before dropping a kiss on to her lips.

Ron then stepped away to allow Hermione to finish dressing. Once they were deemed to be neat enough to leave the room, they did, though separately.

Hermione sat in the Great Hall and listened to Dumbledore's end of year speech. He spoke well of Cedric Diggory and told the entire hall how his death came about, although she tried to listen, all she could think about were those incredible hours before with Ron. She had always loved being with him, unlike Harry, he often asked her things about herself, her life before she came to Hogwarts, Ron actually knew the names of her parents. She then looked up and down the Gryffindor table and saw Harry sitting with Neville, the twins and Ginny, while Ron sat alone eating as much as usual, not talking to anyone. Another thing that crossed her mind was that she would not be able to make love with Ron again until they came back to school. For Hermione, however, this simply would not do, so she promised herself she would find a way to make it possible during the summer ahead, even if she had to resort to using muggle means of contraception.

When the feast was over, Hermione made her way back to Gryffindor tower. She sat down on one of the sofas by the fire, waiting for the right moment to go up to the boy's dorm to speak to Harry. She noticed Dean and Seamus sitting in another corner of the common room, talking with one another, so needing to know if they had seen Harry, she approached them.

'How are you both?' she asked courteously.

'We're fine,' Seamus answered her.

'Is Harry in your room?' she asked.

'Yeah, I saw him go up with Neville, Ginny and Ron, why?' replied Dean.

'I just need to tell him something, that's all,' she said.

'Okay, er, we were about to go up ourselves, you can come up with us,' said Seamus.

'Thanks,' she said.

Dean and Seamus led Hermione up to the room they shared with Harry, Ron and Neville.

Seamus opened the door and walked inside saying, 'Harry, Hermione said she has something to tell you.'

'Okay, thanks, Seamus, you can come in, Hermione,' said Harry's voice.

Hermione walked into the room and saw Ginny and Neville sitting with Harry on his bed, while Ron was standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

'Hi, Harry,' she said.

'Have you made your decision?' asked Harry.

'Decision?' said Dean, wondering what was going on.

Hermione turned to Dean and Seamus and said, 'Harry wants to know whether I'm going to cut Ron out of my life like he has and go out with Neville, or not.'

Dean and Seamus looked shocked as Ron wore a stony and dark expression upon his face.

'They were going to find out sooner or later,' said Hermione, turning back to Harry.

'I suppose you're right, Hermione, so, what have you decided?' said Harry.

'Instead of telling you, why don't I show you by kissing my new boyfriend?' said Hermione.

Harry and Ginny were looking pleased while Neville had a smile from ear to ear.

Hermione then moved into the room towards Neville, but then she turned sharply towards Ron and kissed Ron passionately.

As Hermione was kissing Ron, both Dean and Seamus let out a wolf whistle.

When Ron and Hermione stopped and turned to face the others, they saw that Harry had a look of disappointment mixed with betrayal on his face; Neville looked devastated, while Ginny looked angry.

'You bitch!' Ginny shouted, and she stood up, and drew her wand to curse Hermione.

Ron drew his wand and yelled, '_Protego_!'

Ginny's curse hit Ron's shield charm and rebounded upon Ginny, covering her in bat-bogies, causing her fall to the floor trying to beat the bat-bogies away.

Hermione drew her wand to cancel Ginny's hex.

Ginny then got to her feet and before she could cast another hex in Hermione or Ron's direction, Ron yelled, '_Expelliarmus_!'

Ginny's wand went flying out of her hand and was caught by Ron.

'Give me back my wand, you git!' shouted Ginny.

'No, I don't think I will, _Ginevra_, now get out!' said Ron, as he tucked Ginny's wand into his pocket.

'I'm not going without my wand!'

'You'll get it back later, you wand-happy little brat, now get out!' said Ron.

Ginny then turned to Harry and said, 'Aren't you going to say anything?'

'No, Hermione's made her choice, and I'm disappointed, but not entirely surprised,' said Harry.

'I'm sorry, Harry, I loved you like a brother, but nobody has the right to tell me who I go out with. Neville, I'm sorry, I just can't go out with a boy I don't love …' Hermione said.

Neville gave Hermione an understanding nod.

'Goodnight, Ginny,' said Harry.

'I'm not going anywhere without my wand!' Ginny said persistently.

'You will if you want it back in one piece, after all, I can be very clumsy …' said Ron.

'I hate you!' screamed Ginny, before she ran out of the dorm room and went to her own room.

Harry then gave Ron and Hermione a look before going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

'Neville, just so you know, neither Ron nor I hold anything against you,' said Hermione, before leaving the dorm with Ron to go back to the secret room on the seventh floor.


	7. Train Trip Home

Chapter Seven: Train Trip Home

Ron and Hermione awoke the next day in each other's arms after another two hours of love-making before falling asleep. Ron could not believe his luck that this beautiful girl had chosen him, had given herself to him, and that she loved him, and him alone. He knew that he wanted to wake up like this every morning for the rest of his life. Once they were fully awake, they shared another passionate kiss before sharing a shower and getting dressed. Once they were ready they walked back to Gryffindor tower hand in hand. They both then went to their rooms to finish packing their trunks. Once their trunks were packed and locked, Ron and Hermione went to the library. Of course, this was not Ron's first choice for an activity but Hermione insisted. While Ron was looking at a book on dragons, Hermione had found a book on potions, containing the ingredients and method to make the contraception potion; when Ron realised what she was doing, he put down the dragon book to read the instructions and list of ingredients over her shoulder as she copied down everything word for word before they both left the library. They then snuck down to the potion ingredients store cupboard and Hermione collected the things she did not already have in her potions kit.

It was soon time to board the Hogwarts' Express for the trip back to London. With their trunks secured on the overhead rack, Ron and Hermione sat in a compartment all of their own. They had closed the blinds so they would not be disturbed and spent the vast majority planning on how Ron would get away from the Burrow, and snogging.

Meanwhile, Harry was in a compartment with Neville and Ginny. Ginny was still in a pissy mood about the loss of her wand, while Neville and Harry were discussing meeting up in the summer sometime.

Their journey had been going smoothly until the compartment door opened to reveal Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

'What do _you_ want, Malfoy?' Harry asked impatiently.

Malfoy looked around the compartment as if he wasn't sure he was in the right one.

'Where are Weasley and Granger?' he asked obnoxiously.

'I'm surprised that you don't already know,' said Harry.

'I know what I heard, Potter, and that's you had a falling out with Weasley, and Granger took his side, while the Weaselette and the twin idiots took your side …' said Malfoy.

'I needed newer and better friends, Malfoy,' said Harry.

Malfoy smirked and said, 'I see, and you think the gormless Squib, Longbottom, and the Weaselette are better than Weasley and Granger?'

'They're the ones in here with me,' said Harry.

Malfoy burst into laughter while Crabbe and Goyle guffawed, before Malfoy spoke again.

'Oh, Merlin, Potter, you truly are an idiot! Weasley would have followed you into Hell if you had to go, and you ditch him for a moron who's practically a Squib and barely knows one end of a wand from the other! As for Granger, she might be a Mudblood, but she's a smart Mudblood, and yet you threw her away for a rather poor replacement in the Weaselette! Granger could and would wipe the floor with her without breaking sweat! The Dark Lord has won already! Pathetic, Potter, just pathetic!'

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle then left, laughing their heads off down the corridor.

It was twenty minutes later when the compartment door opened again, but this time it was Ron and Hermione.

'What do _you_ want?' asked Ginny scornfully.

'To talk to Potter – alone,' said Ron.

As Harry stood up, Ginny made to follow.

'What part of alone did you not understand? Don't worry, _Ginevra_, nasty Ron won't hurt your pwecious Hawwy,' said Ron harshly.

Harry left with Ron and Hermione and went back to where Ron and Hermione had been sitting.

'What do you want?' Harry asked curiously.

Ron then withdrew Ginny's wand from his pocket.

'You can give this back to the brat for me,' said Ron, holding the wand. 'When you buy it back from me,' he added.

'What?'

'You heard me, Potter, if you want the brat's wand back, you'll have to pay for it, and I wouldn't try to get it back by force if I were you, you see there are two of us and one of you …' said Ron.

'How much?' asked Harry.

'Hmm, let's see, what's a reasonable price?' said Ron, 'How about a nice even ten Galleons?'

Harry took out his money pouch and counted out ten Galleons.

'This business deal is between the three of us, got it?' said Ron, 'or I'll tell everyone that the great Harry Potter had to buy back his new friend's wand. The shame …'

'Fine,' said Harry, 'this stays between us, here's your gold.'

Harry put the gold on to the seat and Ron passed Harry the wand without touching him.

'Okay, nice doing business with you, Potter, you can fuck off now,' said Ron as he picked up the gold and began to count it.

Harry scowled and tucked Ginny's wand into his robes before leaving.

When Harry was gone, Ron gave Hermione five Galleons.

'What's this?' she asked.

'Profit share; and whatever I have I'm always going to share it with you, you're my life now …' said Ron as they sat down together and he pulled her on to his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

Hermione slipped the gold into her purse which she had in her pocket before saying, 'I love you, Ron, and you're _my_ life too.'

They spent the rest of journey snogging passionately before the train arrived at King's Cross. Once there, Ron helped Hermione with her trunk before getting his own and together they disembarked the train. Pulling their trunks behind them, they went through the barrier together to find Hermione's parents. They spotted Hermione's parents standing alone and walked over to them passing Ron's mother and his oldest brother on the way and not stopping to say anything to either of them.

When they reached them, Hermione hugged both her parents in turn before formally introducing Ron to them as her boyfriend.

'I hope you're taking good care of our Hermione, Ron,' said Richard Granger.

'I am when she lets me, sir, she's everything to me,' Ron told him.

'Would it be okay if Ron spends the summer with us?' Hermione asked.

'Well, we were planning on a holiday …' said Helen Granger.

'Oh, Helen, come on, it'll be nice to have another bloke around the house, the more the merrier!' said Richard.

'Well, if your parents don't mind, then we'd love to have you, Ron,' said Helen.

'Thank you, and I'm sure they won't, but I'll write to Hermione to let you know,' said Ron.

'Richard, why don't we take Hermione's trunk to the car and she can give Ron a proper goodbye?' Helen suggested.

Her husband got the hint and together Hermione's parents took her trunk to their car, leaving Ron and Hermione alone.

Ron wasted no time in pulling Hermione into a loving, deep and passionate kiss, which she returned. When they broke apart, there were tears running down Hermione's face. Ron caught the tears with a gentle thumb and said,

'Please don't cry, Hermione.'

'I'm sorry, I can't help it, I just worry about what you're going home to,' she said.

'I know, but knowing I have you waiting for me will give me the strength I need to bear it, I love you, Hermione,' he said softly.

'I love you too, Ron,' she said before giving him one more kiss and going off to find her parents.

It was a few minutes later when Bill took him and his trunk home by Side-along Apparition.


	8. Home Sweet Hell

Chapter Eight: Home Sweet Hell

The first evening back at the Burrow was hectic as trunks were put into their respective owner's rooms. Ron had taken his own trunk back from Bill and carried it up all the way to the attic bedroom he had. Once there he begun to unpack, and he put the special parchment on his desk. He unpacked all his assignments for the summer except the ones he would not be able to do without Hermione's help.

When Ron was called for dinner, he declined saying he needed to get started on his work and so he was left alone. Three hours into his work, Ron received the first message from Hermione on the special parchment. It read that she had gotten home safely and that she told her parents a story about him falling out with Harry, and that his family were taking Harry's side. Hermione had also written what she had said to convince her parents that Ron was not to blame, _'Do you really think I would go out with Ron if he was at fault?'_

Ron worked until eleven when he heard his father return home from work. Ron wondered why his father was working so late considering the Ministry's denial of the return Voldemort. Half an hour later, he heard his parents climb up the stairs to their bed. So, Ron, feeling hungry, went downstairs into the kitchen. He made himself a sandwich or six with the leftovers before grabbing a pint of pumpkin juice and going back to his room and bed.

Ron awoke the next morning and wrote to Hermione on the parchment for a little while before going down to breakfast. When he arrived at the breakfast table, he saw that his father was not there and when he asked where he was, he was informed that he was at work. Ron sat at the opposite end of the table than the rest of his family as he ate his breakfast. When he was finished he washed up his plate, fork and knife and made to return to his summer assignments but was stopped by the sound of his mother's voice.

'Ron, the garden needs de-gnoming,' she said.

'I can't, I'm busy doing these summer assignments, I don't want my girlfriend mad at me because I didn't do them,' he replied.

'Girlfriend, what girlfriend?' his mother asked.

'Oh, didn't Ginevra and the twins tell you, yet? My girlfriend is Hermione, well, got to get back to it …' said Ron and before his mother said another word, he left for his bedroom. Ron spent the entire day working on an Astronomy chart and was left alone. He had a quiet dinner with the rest of his family before going back to write to Hermione on the parchment. He told her what little information he picked up on as he spent so little time around any of them. He told her that there were plans to move to new secret headquarters very soon. He doubted that he was being included in the "we" part of the conversation. Hermione sent him a useful incantation for an Undetectable Extension Charm she had found in one of her advanced books.

He found a suitable bag on which to practice the charm and after twenty-five tries he got it to work. Once that was out of the way, he continued with his studies.

The next morning his mother didn't ask him to do the de-gnoming, she _told_ him to do the de-gnoming. Ron did not like this so he turned around and said, 'Why don't you get one of the children you actually _wanted_ to do it? Or better yet, get your new son Harry to do it! I've done my last chore around this house!'

'Is that so? Well, you can cook your own food then, can't you?' his mother replied.

'Fine with me!' he retorted.

Ron then left the kitchen to go back to his homework. When it was lunchtime, the door to his room was thrown open and Bill, Fred and George came in and started on him.

'Who do you think you are speaking to mum like that?' Bill asked scornfully.

'The son she never fucking wanted, so why don't the three of you piss off?' Ron replied angrily.

Bill, Fred and George drew their wands on him.

Ron looked back at them defiantly and said, 'Wow, aren't you three brave? Threatening to use magic on someone who isn't allowed to use magic to defend themselves! Your mother will be so proud!'

The three of them then put away their wands and left his room, closing the door behind them.

Ron then wrote to Hermione on the parchment telling her what had just happened.

Wednesday and Thursday had been relatively peaceful until dinnertime. Ron made his own dinner and ate with the rest of them, and as they ate, his mother spoke to them.

'Tomorrow night, we will be joining the Order of the Phoenix at their new Headquarters. By us, I mean your father, Bill, Fred, George, Ginny and me. Ron, you'll be spending the rest of your summer with your Auntie Muriel, is that understood, everyone?'

Fred asked, 'What about Percy?'

'Your father hasn't seen him all week, but he will be coming home tomorrow night, so I assume he will be coming with us,' she replied.

Ron finished his food and washed up his utensils before going up to his room. He was angry. There was no way he was going to stay with Muriel for seven weeks! _'Seven seconds is too long in her company,'_ he thought as he started to repack his books into his trunk, along with his old uniform that no longer fit him, he also packed the muggle clothes that were in better condition into another bag before tossing it into the extended bag. He then wrote a short three word note to Hermione on the parchment.

'_I'm leaving tonight.'_

He received a short reply from Hermione in return.

'_We'll be waiting.'_


	9. Going, Going, Gone

Chapter Nine: Going, Going, Gone

Ron had made his plan with Hermione on the trip back on the train. He was going to wait until it was really late and just go. However, Hermione had found that useful Undetectable Extension Charm in one of her advanced books that had made everything even easier. Another bonus was the charm made the bag weightless too, but now all he had to do was wait for his father to come home from work and go to bed with his mother who was waiting up for him.

While he waited, Ron wrote a letter to his family, pouring all his anger into it, and finished his packing by putting his trunk into the charmed bag.

The moment he heard his parents coming up the stairs, his heart started to beat furiously. He knew he needed to wait for at least twenty minutes to be on the safe side before leaving his bedroom for the last time. Ron made the time go by listing all the things he loved about Hermione, which took even longer than the twenty minutes he allowed himself and so over half an hour later, he grabbed the extended bag with his belongings, crept downstairs to the kitchen and then out of the backdoor.

Once outside, he walked past the broom shed, the pond, and his father's shed for the last time, before leaving the Burrow and its surrounding area forever. Once out of the enchantments that surrounded the area, Ron continued to walk down to the village of Ottery St Catchpole.

The village was a muggle one with a few wizards who lived nearby. As Ron walked through the village he realised that this would probably be the last time he would see it for a very long time. Once he got to a reasonable distance from the village he stuck out his right hand.

A moment or two later there was a loud bang and a purple triple decker bus appeared and stopped. Ron stepped on board to be greeted by the conductor.

'Welcome to the –' the pimply young wizard began but Ron cut across him.

'Spare me the introduction, mate, just tell me how much to get out of here.'

'Depends on where you wanna go,' said the conductor.

'Ashford, Kent,' said Ron.

'Thirteen Sickles,' said the conductor, 'but for fourteen you get a hot chocolate, and for fifteen –'

Ron cut across him again.

'Here's a Galleon and keep the change,' he said and gave him one of the Galleons that he had taken from Potter on the train home and sat down on a chair.

'Thanks,' said the conductor, before saying, 'off we go!' to the driver.

The bus then started to move with another bang and almost had Ron flying out of his seat and thinking it was a good decision to not get a hot chocolate. The bus moved very fast through town after town, city after city. Places covered in darkness went by in a blur. The bus made a stop occasionally to collect a couple more passengers but Ron did not let them see him as the bus brought him closer to Hermione.

The conductor approached him and said, 'What did you say your name was?'

'I didn't,' replied Ron.

'What part of Ashford do you want dropping off at?' he asked.

'There's a pub called "The Queen's Head",' Ron told him.

The conductor nodded and left to tell the driver.

For the rest of the journey, Ron was left alone and when they finally arrived, he was glad to be off the bus at last. He turned to the conductor and said, 'Thank you very much, and if anyone asks you about me, can you tell them you dropped me off in Bristol?'

'Sure, mate, take care now,' said the conductor, before the bus left with another loud bang.

Now that Ron was alone he took in his surroundings. He noticed a couple of parked cars and a vandalised phone box. A wall covered in graffiti. It was then that there was a flashing light. Ron saw it in the corner of his eye so he did not see where it came from until the flashing light occurred again. He saw it coming from one of the parked cars. He saw the passenger door open and a girl stepped out and waved him over to them. Ron carefully crossed the road and made his way to the car and saw that the girl was Hermione, he then ran the last few steps and when he reached her he hugged her fiercely, whispering, 'I missed you so much,' over and over again, as Hermione whispered back to him, 'Me too.'

They shared a passionate snog before a voice said, 'Good evening, Ron.'

Ron and Hermione broke apart blushing. Ron then said, 'Good evening, Mrs Granger, er, sorry about all the inconvenience of my arrival and everything.'

Mrs Granger smiled and said, 'Don't apologise, Ron, my husband would have loved to have been here to collect you as to him it's all very "Bondian" and spy-like, but he has appointments in the morning, as for me, I can tell you make Hermione very happy, and if she's happy that's all that matters. Anyway, it's getting late and we should get home.'

'Right you are, Mrs Granger,' said Ron, before getting in the back seat of the car. Hermione closed the front passenger side door and got in the back with Ron and wrapped herself into his body and he held her in return.

Hermione's mother then climbed back into the car and started the engine, as she slyly used the rear-view mirror to look at Hermione and Ron before re-adjusting it to its proper place and started to drive them home.

'Ron?' said Mrs Granger.

'Yes, Mrs Granger?' he replied.

'Call me Helen, Mrs Granger was my mother-in-law,' she told him.

'Whatever you say, Helen,' said Ron.

Helen smiled and continued to drive and got them home safely. Once there, they quietly showed Ron to his room, which was opposite Hermione's, before all three of them went to bed.

0o0

When Molly Weasley awoke the next morning she decided she would take Ron to Auntie Muriel's house after breakfast. She gave her husband a shake and he awoke with a grunt before getting out of bed to wash and dress for the day as Molly too washed and dressed for the day.

Once she was ready she went down to the kitchen to start breakfast. A few minutes later she was joined by her husband who sat at the table and read the morning paper. Molly noticed the frowns upon her husband's brow and guessed that he had found the latest barb in the Prophet about Harry. When his breakfast was ready she put it on the table in front of him and received a kiss in return before he started to eat. Knowing that the children would not be up for a while yet, she took a seat next to her husband and ate her breakfast too, as they ate in confortable silence.

When Arthur had finished, he washed up his own plate and utensils before giving her another kiss and bidding her good day as she did the same in return. Bill was up half an hour later and she cooked him his breakfast. He gave her his thanks and ate quietly, thinking to himself. Twenty minutes later, Ginny joined them at the breakfast table, and Molly gave her plenty of food. Ten minutes later they were all joined by the twins, who were each given large portions to eat. As Molly wasn't cooking for Ron anymore, she sat down with her children and waited for Ron to join them. As they ate, she also informed them that she would be taking Ron to Muriel's after breakfast. This brought about a nasty grin on Ginny's face, which quickly disappeared.

As Fred and George had finished their breakfast, they waited for Ron to join them all, but Ron did not come down at all.

'Where is that boy? Doesn't he know how busy we're going to be?' Molly hissed.

'Do you want me to go and wake him?' Bill offered.

'No, I'll do it,' replied Molly, giving Bill a smile before getting to her feet. Molly then climbed the stairs up to the attic bedroom that had been Ron's for so very long. When she got to his door she knocked but got no answer. She knocked again, louder this time, but still no answer. So this time she opened the door and walked into the room.

There was no sign of Ron or his belongings. On the bed she saw an envelope on top of what looked like a book. Molly snatched up the envelope, took out the parchment and began to read.

_To whom it may concern,_

_By the time you read this I shall be gone, and gone for good. I've left behind a stack of photographs of your new son/brother, Harry, to pore over instead. I hope you will all be very happy together, if he doesn't get you all killed, that is._

_Now that my third biggest fear has become a reality, I no longer consider myself a Weasley. You all turned your back on me in favour of the fucking Boy Who Lived, and truthfully I'm not surprised as I expected it, one way or another. Six members of my own family betrayed me to get rid of me in exchange for Harry fucking Potter, well fine, just don't come crying back to me when he gets you hurt or killed. You are no longer my family and you can kiss my arse._

_I have nothing more to say to any of you, except don't try to contact me, don't try to find me._

_The real strange thing is that I don't hate you, I guess you are just no longer important enough for me to hate, any of you. Even you, Ginevra, a wand-happy little bitch who turned on me with the promise of being closer to her precious Potter and most likely becoming nothing more than his fucking concubine, but, hey, if the cap fits … and it's the only way for you to trap him …_

_Then there's Fred and George, who also turned on me, though I do not know why. Frankly, I don't give a fuck as I'll no longer have to put up with being pranked, taunted and teased by the two of you any longer._

_Bill and Charlie as well, eh? You judged me on my fucking schoolwork and the way I used to treat Hermione? Well, don't worry; I treat Hermione like a queen now she's my girlfriend, despite Potter's attempt to make her go out with someone she does not love!_

_Then there is my loving mother. I do not remember the last time you gave me a hug, or told me that you cared about me in some way, or any way, for that matter. You expect me to do as well as the rest but it will never matter as five other brothers, well, three of them at least, have done it all already between them! I'm not Bill, who was cool, smart, and Head Boy, I'm not Charlie, who was Quidditch Captain and went to work with Dragons, I'm not Percy, who was smart and Head Boy too, I'm not Fred and George, funny, smart and popular, and I'm not Ginevra, I was not born the girl you so desperately wanted. I know I was such a disappointment to you when I was born. I know my place as the last person in your list of people you care the most about, and I'm even below that old bag, Muriel, who you were going to foist upon me for seven fucking weeks! As a matter of fact you showed me last summer what you think of me when you gave me those shitty fucking dress robes to wear to the Yule Ball, and bought your precious little girl, who was too young to even go to said ball, a new dress she might not have needed! Of course she did need it when Neville Longbottom, Potter's new curse-dummy, invited her. You should have waited until she was actually invited by someone before buying her a dress and bought me decent robes back in the summer. But, oh no, you couldn't bring yourself to put someone else ahead of precious little Ginevra, could you? You probably thought, "Fuck Ron, he doesn't matter, I never wanted him anyway, and no girl is going to want to go with him to the Yule Ball, he's far too ugly and immature, but the boys will all be lining up to ask my dear Ginevra!"_

_Oh, and another thing, why was I the only one of us to start Hogwarts without a wand of their own? Why did I have to wait two fucking years for a wand of my own? Oh, hang on, that's right, I wasn't wanted by you, was I, mother dear? Maybe not having my own wand was one of the reasons my marks aren't so good? Maybe the reason I don't apply myself is because I still believe that I'm wasting my time trying to emulate my brothers, and that I'm crap at magic, despite having my own wand? Is it any fucking wonder I have an inferiority complex?_

_This concludes my goodbye letter to you all. Dad, if you're reading this and only just finding out what has happened, don't blame yourself, you work hard for your family and I appreciate all the time we had together. Percy, well, I don't actually know what to say to you except that I'm sorry I never treated you better. Dad, Percy, I love you very much, but I had to leave. As for the rest of you … well, see above, especially the part about not trying to contact me or trying to find me._

_Oh, and one more thing, could one of you useless arses make sure that Pig is returned to Snuffles? I do not think it would be appropriate for me to keep Pig as I am no longer friends with the godson of Snuffles, thank you._

_Ron_

When Molly finished the letter, she ran downstairs to show the others.

Bill read the letter aloud to them all as they listened.

Once he was finished, Ginny said, 'Good riddance to him!'

Molly was sitting in her seat staring into space sadly and did not hear her daughter's words. Bill went back up to Ron's room and saw the photo album on the bed. He opened it and saw that Ron was true to his word as inside were pictures of Harry with himself and Hermione cut out of them. Bill sighed and took the album downstairs and showed them its contents.

All five of them knew one thing; they had lost Ron forever.


	10. Important Muggle Culture

Chapter Ten: Important Muggle Culture

When Ron awoke the next morning, the first thing he saw was Hermione watching over him as he slept. She had a smile on her face and all he could do was marvel at how beautiful she was.

'Morning, Ron,' she said.

'Good morning, my love,' he said smiling at her.

'Did you sleep all right?' she asked.

'I did, but it was not as good as waking up to your beautiful face. I think I could do that forever, you know …' he replied.

Hermione took his hand and said, 'That almost sounded like a proposal, Ronald Weasley.'

Ron pulled her closer and said, 'Maybe it was, but I think I will ask you properly at some point …'

Before she could retort, he pulled her in for a long kiss full of passion, desire and love.

'Mm, keep kissing me like that and you won't need to ask me properly, as you put it …' she whispered.

'I love you, Hermione,' said Ron.

'I love you too, Ron,' said Hermione.

Hermione lay down on the bed with Ron so he could hold her and neither of them spoke for a little while.

Eventually Hermione broke the comfortable silence.

'Mum's working this afternoon, and my dad has appointments all day …'

'How … interesting …'

'We'll have the house to ourselves for the afternoon,' said Hermione, suggestively.

'Are you suggesting we spend a little of the afternoon engaged in certain activities that will not get me invited to Christmas dinner?'

Hermione giggled and said, 'I might be …'

'Well, as much as I want to, I don't want to do anything to jeopardise getting to know your parents a little better, and they are letting me stay here with you for the summer, and I think debauching their only daughter in their house while they are at work would be a bit disrespectful,' said Ron.

Hermione sighed and said, 'Fair enough, though I have to wonder when you got so logical.'

'You must be rubbing off on me, sweet Hermione,' he replied.

Hermione groaned as she sat up again before saying, 'It's time to get up, you know, for breakfast?'

Ron then sat up too and pulled her into another kiss before she left him to get dressed.

When he was dressed he went downstairs to the kitchen and found Hermione and Helen drinking tea.

'Morning, Ron, help yourself to tea, won't you?' said Helen, kindly.

'Thank you, Helen,' said Ron. He then poured out a cup of tea for himself. 'Do you have any sugar?' he asked.

'Hmm, we shouldn't but I know Richard has some in the cupboard,' said Helen, getting to feet and going over to the cupboard before bringing a small container full of sugar.

'Thank you,' said Ron, kindly, before dumping three heaped teaspoons full into his tea.

'You must have a sweet tooth a mile long, Ron,' said Helen, smiling.

'Yeah, I do; what about you?' Ron replied.

'No, I don't have any sugar with anything, it damages your teeth, you see,' said Helen.

'Really, you don't put in any sugar at all for your tea or coffee?' Ron asked astounded.

'No, and neither does Hermione,' said Helen.

Ron was sure this was not true because he had seen Hermione add sugar to her morning coffee, and to her cups of tea at lunchtime, but said, 'Of course, you're both sweet enough, aren't you?'

Helen and Hermione both laughed at Ron's words and Helen said, 'I think this one's a keeper, Hermione, with compliments like that, you hold on to him!'

'Oh, I intend to, Mum, don't you worry about that,' Hermione said smiling at Ron.

When breakfast was over, where Ron had eaten a bowl of Cornflakes with lots of sugar, he and Hermione went into the living room and she explained to him how the television worked, as well as the CD player and Hi-Fi system, and the telephone. Ron understood them very easily as Hermione explained them to him very well. When her mother went to work for her afternoon appointments, they were left to their own devices as they spent the afternoon watching whatever crap happened to be on the TV, in fact, the pair fell asleep in front of the television in each other's arms until they were awoken by Hermione's parents returning home.

During dinner, Ron got to know Hermione's father a little. He told Ron that he liked sports and liked to watch them to relax. He also told Ron to call him Richard and so Ron did. Ron told him that he liked Quidditch and supported the Chudley Cannons, despite the team's century long bad patch. Richard applauded Ron for sticking by his team and told Ron about his favourite Football team, Tottenham Hotspur.

'If we're playing at home on Boxing Day, I'll try to get tickets for the game,' said Richard.

'That would be great,' said Ron, as Helen and Hermione groaned quietly.

'Hermione tells me that most wizards don't know anything about muggle culture, is that true?' Richard asked.

'Yeah, pretty much, you see we don't have tellies and things like that as we don't use or have eckletricity,' Ron answered.

'Electricity,' Hermione corrected.

'Yeah, that,' said Ron.

'Excellent, well as it's a Friday night, I'm going to teach you about a very important piece of muggle culture … a man by the name of Bond, James Bond,' said Richard, beaming at him.

'Er, okay,' said Ron.

Richard then launched into what could have been a seminar on James Bond before finally Ron said, 'Let me get this straight, this Bond kills loads of people, drinks fancy cocktails, smokes, gambles, saves the world from some nutter bent on world domination, and gets the girl, without using any magic?'

'Yes, just his wits and the odd clever gadget given to him by Q,' said Richard.

'Right; and it's a different girl every time?' Ron asked.

'Yep, although there are a couple of actresses who have appeared in more than one film as different characters, you see …'

'Dad, why don't you let Ron watch a film or two, so he can understand it better?' Hermione suggested.

'What an excellent suggestion!' said Richard, and so the four of them made their way into the living room.

Once they had all made themselves comfortable, Richard put in the first video. Ron noticed it was called _Dr No_, and so he sat back and watched the film with Hermione sitting next to him with her head resting on his shoulder. As the film played out, Ron could not take his eyes away from the screen as he sat there transfixed. During the iconic moment where Ursula Andress makes her entrance, Ron's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He had never seen anything like it before, and made a mental note to ask Hermione if she had a bikini like Honey Ryder's.

When the film ended, Ron could not wait to watch the next one and so after the tape was rewound and put away, the next one, _From Russia With Love_, was put into the VCR. Again, Ron sat and watched unable to take his eyes away from the screen. He enjoyed the scene with Kronsteen as he played chess and won. He took more mental notes as he watched the action unfold and wondered if he could use his own wits in the same manner.

When the film ended it was late and so they all hit the sack.

The next morning Hermione awoke and went downstairs to find Ron and her father watching another Bond film. Hermione recognised it as _Goldfinger_ before going into the kitchen and finding her mother reading the newspaper.

'Morning, Mum,' she said.

'Good morning, Hermione,' she replied.

'How long have they been up?' Hermione replied.

'About an hour, I think, and I suspect your father will want to spend the day watching as many as possible …' Helen answered.

'And I'm sure Ron will love to watch them too, he wants dad to like him,' said Hermione.

'Your father does like him,' said Helen, kindly.

'Good, because I love him, and he's not going anywhere,' said Hermione.

'Well, it doesn't look like either of them will be going anywhere today if they're going to be watching videos all day,' said Helen with a sigh.

Hermione smiled at her mother before going back into the living room with a bowl of Cornflakes.

It was late Sunday evening when Ron and Richard had reached the end of their Bond Marathon.

'So, what did you think, Ron? As a whole, I mean,' said Richard.

'It was pretty cool. I'll have to watch them again at some point, though, I just wish I could be as smart as Bond,' said Ron.

'Or as smooth?' asked Hermione, smiling at him.

'Well, a bit of smoothness wouldn't go amiss,' said Ron.

'Well, it's time for bed,' said Helen.

Ron got his feet and helped Hermione to hers before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to her bedroom as her parents watched.

Richard and Helen went into the kitchen to wash up and put away popcorn bowls before going upstairs. As they passed Hermione's room they peered inside to see that Ron was sitting on her bed and watching her sleep. He then gave her forehead a gentle kiss before leaving her to her sleep.

'Goodnight, Ron,' said Richard and Helen, in turn.

'Goodnight,' said Ron, before going into his room too.


	11. The Woes of Mr Weasley

Chapter Eleven: The Woes of Mr Weasley

Arthur Weasley was sitting at his desk at work, and as it was a Friday afternoon, he wasn't really paying much attention. He was too busy thinking about what was happening tonight. Tonight he was moving his whole family out of the Burrow to go to Grimmauld Place in London. He had been going there every night this week to help get it ready for tonight. In his humble opinion, the place was a dump, and he did not envy anyone whose task it would be to clean the place, even using magic. He suspected that the task would fall to Molly and his children, although calling them children just felt so wrong these days. Bill was in his mid-twenties, as was Charlie, Percy was almost twenty and the twins, Fred and George, were of age now. Arthur then thought of his youngest son, Ron, he might only be fifteen but he had seen more than most people his age. Ginny was almost fourteen and had been a victim of Dark magic already in her short life so far. He could just imagine what Ron was going to say when he found out that he would be helping to clean that awful house, and spend most of the summer doing it.

The truth be told, he felt it was a waste of a young wizard's talent to make him a clean a house instead of asking him for ideas on planning and strategy, after all, Ron was one of the best chess players he had ever come across, in fact Arthur would not be at all surprised if he could defeat Dumbledore at the game. But alas, Molly would never allow Ron to be involved with any of the goings on, and if she had her way, none of the others would be involved either. Arthur felt it was wrong that Molly treated them all like children, but he never felt it was his place to say anything as she was the one who did most of, if not all the work in the raising of their children. Arthur shook his head again as the word children went through his mind. There was just no way that they could be just kids anymore, Voldemort rising again had seen to that.

At last, five o'clock arrived and so he bid Perkins a safe journey home and a goodnight before leaving for home. On his way, he saw Percy in the atrium. He had not seen Percy all week, and he knew that Percy had not been to the Burrow all week as he had moved to a new flat in London that was close to the Ministry of Magic. As he took in Percy's appearance, he noticed that he did not look like someone who should have been investigated for his conduct as he should have consulted a superior when Barty Crouch stopped coming into work and had taken up his work for him in his place. In fact, Arthur could see that Percy had a look on his face to suggest he had good news, so, together the two of them Apparated to the Burrow.

Before anyone could greet him or Percy, Percy spoke.

'I've got news, good news, in fact,' he said.

'Well, let's hear it, Percy,' said Molly.

'I've been promoted!' said Percy, boastfully.

'Really, to what, dear?' asked Molly.

'I'm now Junior Assistant to the Minister!' he replied.

Arthur took a look around the kitchen to gage the reactions of the rest of them, and as he did so, he noticed somebody was missing.

'That's wonderful!' said Molly, proudly, 'isn't it, Arthur?'

'Where's Ron?' Arthur asked.

Before Molly answered, he noticed his wife share a look with Bill and the others before saying, 'He's gone to Muriel's for the summer.'

Arthur knew right away that his wife was lying. Not because he could tell when she was lying, it was because he knew that Ron despised Muriel just as much as he did, if not more.

'Where's Ron?' Arthur asked again.

'Show him, Mum,' said Bill.

'Show me what?' said Arthur, impatiently.

Molly then handed him the letter Ron had left behind.

With every word Arthur read, he found himself getting angry as well as a little confused, when he had finished, he said, 'Explain!'

Molly then told him about the meeting with Remus that she, Bill and Charlie had attended and what decisions had been made.

Arthur Weasley was not happy, not happy at all.

'So, let me get this straight, Molly, Remus Lupin, you, Bill and Charlie all decided that Ron should be tossed aside like yesterday's garbage because of one mistake, and not doing as well as the rest of his siblings on his schoolwork? And then forcing Hermione into a relationship with a boy she does not love, hurting Ron and Hermione even more?'

Molly nodded.

'So, what happened?' Arthur asked.

'Ron and Hermione hooked up instead!' said Ginny, outraged.

Arthur could not stop the smile that appeared on his face.

'Do you mean to tell me that you're all taking Potter's side in all this?' asked Percy.

'With You-Know-Who back –'

'You believe Potter, do you, Mother? You believe Potter is telling the truth?' said Percy.

'He wouldn't make up anything like this! His parents' murderer being back is not something Harry would lie about!' said Molly.

'According to the Minister, Potter is lying!' said Percy.

'But what do _you_ think, Percy? You, what does your gut tell you?' Arthur asked his third eldest son. 'What is _your_ opinion?'

'I … don't know what to think … I mean if he is telling the truth, there is still the matter of his behaviour towards Ronald!' said Percy.

'Who cares?' said Ginny.

'I care!' Arthur shouted, making them all jump, 'he is my son, and I'll have words with anyone who would try to hurt him in any way!'

It was then that there was a knock on the door so Molly jumped to open the door to find Dumbledore waiting outside.

'Good evening to you all; forgive me, but I thought I heard raised voices?' said Dumbledore.

'Yes, you did, Albus,' said Arthur.

'Is it true, Headmaster, that You-Know-Who is back?' asked Percy.

'Yes, I am afraid that it is true, Percy,' said Dumbledore.

'The Minister said that the Diggory boy died in an accident,' said Percy.

'No, my dear boy, he was murdered by Lord Voldemort, or at least it was on his orders …'

'The Minister says you and Potter are lying to cause destabilisation in the Ministry,' said Percy.

'We are not lying, and we have no reason to lie about something as serious as this. Cornelius has become blinded, and therefore, he will not listen to reason or warn the public of the very real danger to our way of life.'

Percy was gobsmacked. 'So what are you going to do, Headmaster?'

'Whatever I can to make sure Voldemort is not as strong as he was the last time he was powerful, but I can only do so much …'

'You see, Percy, because the Minister won't get off his backside and do his actual job, Professor Dumbledore is going to do all he can to fight You-Know-Who and his followers, and we're going to help all we can,' said Bill.

'How?' asked Percy.

'Recruiting more help, protecting Harry among other things,' said Bill.

'Why are you protecting Harry Potter? What makes him so special?' asked Percy.

'Harry has a pivotal role to play, I'm sorry I cannot say any more than that, but if you wish to stand alongside your family, and fight against Lord Voldemort, you would be most welcome …' said Dumbledore.

'I need to think about this … you see, I was promoted to the Minister's staff today,' said Percy.

'Really?' said Dumbledore, 'that's interesting …'

'Why?'

'Because you would make an excellent spy with your proximity to Cornelius, please do not misunderstand me, I have no interest in being the Minister of Magic, but I will need to know what he is doing … who he meets … you see, we cannot afford for him to be alone with suspected Death Eaters … people like Lucius Malfoy … if someone like that were to use the Imperius Curse upon Cornelius, it could lead to all sorts of problems …'

'In that case, I shall help in any way that I can,' said Percy.

'Spoken like a true Gryffindor and Weasley,' said Dumbledore, 'now, are you all ready to go to Headquarters?'

'We would be, Albus, but Ron is not here,' said Arthur.

'Where is he?' asked Dumbledore.

Arthur handed Dumbledore the letter he had just read, saying, 'I can only apologise for the contents, Headmaster.'

Dumbledore read the letter as he waved away Arthur's apology.

'I am very sorry, Arthur …' said Dumbledore, when he had finished.

'Why, it's not like you forced Ron out of his home and away from his family,' Arthur replied.

'No, I did not. However, I do not think he will be in danger at the present, what with Voldemort and his followers lying low, and Ronald has always struck me as a fighter and a survivor …'

The silence in the Burrow's kitchen was broken by Molly.

'Shouldn't we be going?'

Dumbledore agreed and so with a flick of his wand he sent Fred, George and Ginny's trunks to Headquarters, before showing them all a piece of parchment that read:

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

Once everyone had read and memorised the parchment, they all left the Burrow to Apparate, with Molly taking Ginny by Side-along Apparition.

Upon their arrival in the street full of dilapidated houses, they followed Dumbledore to where number twelve should be, remembering the parchment, the house appeared and were told go inside and to keep quiet in the hallway. They followed Dumbledore into what was once an elegant drawing room.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and spoke once more.

'For those of you who do not know one another, this is Arthur Weasley, his wife, Molly, and their children, Bill, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny,' began Dumbledore, 'I am sure you can all manage to introduce yourselves, as most unfortunately, I have to leave.'

Dumbledore left without another word.

'Kingsley Shacklebolt,' said a tall, black man with a deep voice.

'Tonks,' said a young woman with pink hair.

'Remus Lupin,' said a man with shabby robes.

It was then Arthur saw red and stormed up to Lupin and punched him hard in the face, sending him to the floor.

'OI!' shouted a voice, but was ignored as Arthur began to speak.

'Who the bloody hell are you to pass judgment on my son? What gives you the right to say he's not good enough? Do you have any idea what you've done?'

Another man had come into the room and helped Remus to his feet, before turning around to Arthur and said, 'Welcome back to the shithole, Arthur.'

'Hello, Sirius,' Arthur replied.

'Sirius, as in Sirius Black?' asked Percy, shocked.

'The one and only, nice to meet you, kiddo,' said Sirius, nonchalantly.

'Perce, don't wet yourself, he's innocent,' said Bill.

Percy scowled at Bill, but did not speak.

Remus had recovered enough to answer Arthur's questions.

'I did what I felt was best for Harry …'

'So you felt it was best to cast aside my fifteen-year-old son who has more experience with the Dark Arts than almost anyone else his age? Not to mention, a talented young wizard with a mind for strategy and planning?' said Arthur.

'Strategy and planning?' asked Remus.

'Ron is easily the best chess player I've ever seen, and I'd wager that he could beat Dumbledore!' said Arthur.

'So he can play chess, big deal!' said Ginny.

'Be quiet, Ginny, if you know what's good for you!' Arthur scolded.

'He turned his back on Harry when Harry needed him the most,' said Remus.

'Yes, he did, but he came back and came to his senses, didn't he? Are you going to stand there and tell me that you never made a mistake when you were a teenager?' said Arthur.

'No,' said Remus.

'So what the bloody hell gives you the right to pass judgement on my son? Did you know that Ron has run away from home? Did you know that my wife was going to leave him with someone he despises? And what's all this bollocks about forcing Hermione Granger into a relationship with a boy she doesn't love?'

Arthur took out the letter Ron had left and handed it to Sirius, who read it aloud.

'Did you bring the owl?' he asked, when he had finished.

'I think so, why?' asked Arthur.

'Because I gave that owl to Ron, I said he could keep him as it is my fault he no longer had a rat.'

'What happened to Scabbers?' asked Percy.

'Scabbers was and is an Illegal Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew,' Sirius told him, 'He was the one who betrayed James and Lily, and blew that street apart, killing those muggles.'

Percy nodded, before saying, 'Why didn't you say anything during your trial?'

'What trial?'

Percy's jaw dropped before Sirius continued.

'I was sent to Azkaban without a trial by Barty Crouch Senior.'

Percy went even paler.

'Yes, well, it's getting late, and I think it's time my children were in bed,' said Arthur.

'I agree, there's a lot of work to be done on this house,' said Molly.

'And who's going to be doing that?' asked Ginny.

'You are, along with Fred and George, and I'm sure Harry will lend a hand when he gets here,' said Arthur.

'What, no way!' said Ginny.

'You'll do as you're told, young lady, and to think, if you hadn't pushed Ron away, he would've been here to help you …' said Arthur, 'even though it's a waste of his talents …' he added.

'What talents?' said Ginny, spitefully.

Arthur heard and he had had enough, he took Ginny forcibly by the hand and led her away from the room, then upstairs into one of the bedrooms and closed the door behind them.

'Dad, what are you doing?' Ginny asked.

'You've bad mouthed your brother for the last time … at least, in front of me …' Arthur replied.

Arthur then put his daughter over his knee before delivering a series of hard smacks to her backside. However, he did not stop there as he pulled Ginny's skirt up to reveal her underwear, which he pulled down to her knees and started to smack her backside again, as Ginny kicked and cried out in pain. Arthur ignored her pleas for him to stop as he spanked her, and continued to hold her in place as he delivered her punishment. As Ginny reached behind to put her hand in the way, Arthur caught her hand and moved it aside holding it and her in place as he continued.

After ten minutes and to Ginny's relief, he stopped.

However, Arthur took out his wand and conjured a wooden-back hair brush.

'Please … no more, Daddy …' she whined.

'You've had this coming for a long time, Ginevra,' he replied.

Ginny looked back to see what her father was holding and her eyes went wide, before she said, 'Please, Daddy, don't use that brush, it hurts so much already …'

'You should have thought of that before you bad mouthed your brother, your own flesh and blood …' he said sternly, before beginning to use the brush.

The sounds of the brush cracking on Ginny's bare backside filled the room along with Ginny's cries and pleas, as she kicked in vain. Arthur then moved his swats to the back of her thighs, hitting the sit spots, making Ginny cry out even louder as the tears poured down her face.

After ten more minutes, Arthur stopped and pulled Ginny's underwear back up and her skirt back down again.

'I think that will do for tonight, Ginevra, you may get up and get ready for bed,' said Arthur.

Ginny stood up straight and wiped her eyes, saying nothing.

'Once you're ready for bed, go to sleep,' said Arthur.

'Yes, Dad,' she replied.

Arthur then left the room for Ginny to change for bed.

When he went back into the drawing room he told Fred and George to go to bed, before going to bed himself. He would have words with Molly and Bill in the morning.

When he awoke the next morning, Arthur found Bill and Molly in the kitchen alone. He gave Bill a bollocking for his part in the meeting, and gave Molly what for as well. He then went to the Ministry to get a Portkey that would take him to Romania on Monday. When he came back, he gave Remus the evil eye before telling off Fred and George. On Sunday he decided to have a nice long rest before the trip to Romania to speak to Charlie. He also decided he needed time away to think about things, so he would stay in Romania for a week.

_**A/N: In case it wasn't clear, the vast majority of chapters 9, 10 and 11 all took place on the same day.**_


	12. What's Wrong with Me?

Chapter Twelve: What's Wrong with Me?

Ron awoke late on Monday morning to find that Hermione's parents had gone to work, and that Hermione was studying in her room. He greeted her with a long, drawn-out kiss before wishing her a good morning. Ron collected his Potions and Transfiguration assignments so he and Hermione could do them together, which translates to Hermione explaining the difficult bits by putting them into plain, simple English. Once she had done that, the assignments were done quickly.

After a spot of lunch, the pair retired to the living room and watched the television. Like they did the previous Friday, they sat and watched the awful daytime programmes. Ron made a joke that the programmes were so bad that they made people want to go to work or school instead of watching the crap on TV. Despite the fact the programming was crap, Ron and Hermione managed to have some fun. They switched off the television and went into the kitchen to make a snack. Hermione showed Ron how to use the muggle kitchen appliances. Once they had their snack they went back into the living room. Ron then switched the stereo on as Hermione chose a CD. The CD she chose was full of love songs and so Ron asked her to dance with him, and Hermione accepted gleefully.

They danced slowly together, breathing each other in as they held each other. When they were tired of dancing they lay down on the couch together before Hermione fell asleep on Ron's chest.

As he watched her sleep contentedly on his chest he was thinking just how lucky he was right now. The girl he had loved since he was eleven years old loved him in return. He marvelled at how beautiful she was as she slept, and with that thought, he fell asleep too.

That evening Ron decided to tell Hermione's parents the full story about what had happened between him, Potter and his family. He also told them about Voldemort rising again and the danger he posed to not just the wizarding world but the whole world in general. Ron was also quick to forestall any notions of taking Hermione out of Hogwarts against her will as it would be against wizarding law and also explaining that Hermione would be safer at Hogwarts while she was still underage. He gave Richard and Helen Granger his word he would protect Hermione until his dying breath when the war escalates. However, the thing that angered Hermione's parents the most was that a man they had never met had practically tried to whore out their fifteen-year-old daughter to a boy she did not love as a condition of friendship. Ron calmed them down and told them he would not have allowed it to happen even if he was not in love with Hermione, because he felt that Hermione deserves better than to be treated like chattel, and as her best friend he would have decked Potter and Longbottom if Hermione had been forced to agree to the ultimatum. Ron also told them about his declaration of his feelings for Hermione but of course he left out the fact they made love that same day.

Hermione said her piece about how happy Ron made her, she also declared that Ron was going to be a permanent fixture in her life and even told her parents about what Ron said, asking her to marry him one day, which made her happy that she was all Ron wanted and that she was good enough for him, this led to Ron to say that he didn't think he would ever be good enough for her, this might have led to an argument but her parents told them that they could see how much they loved each other and assured Ron that he was more than good enough for Hermione, and they also told Ron that he could stay with them for as long as he wanted. This made Ron very happy and so he hugged Hermione and Helen before sharing a solid handshake with Richard, before they realised how late it was and going to bed.

Ron spent Tuesday morning reading a book on Potions before allowing Hermione to test him in the afternoon. However, upon the first question Hermione asked, Ron's mind went blank.

'Why can't you remember it, Ron? You only read it this morning,' said Hermione, puzzled.

'I've always had trouble remembering the stuff I read …' he said.

'What makes you say that?' Hermione asked.

'I'm not sure … I mean I've never had a problem recalling stuff people tell me,' Ron said.

'Such as?' asked Hermione.

'Stuff you tell me, I mean, I still remember the first conversation we had after we became friends, you told me about your life in the muggle world …' said Ron.

Hermione did not know what to say and so stayed quiet to think.

'Do you think there's something wrong with me?' he asked.

'I don't know, I'm not an expert,' she replied. 'There's something odd going on here that much I do know.'

'I can't argue with you there,' he said.

'Do you think you should see a Healer?' she asked.

'No, if I went to St Mungo's they would inform next of kin and need to get my parents' permission to do anything serious to make the problem go away …' Ron told her.

'What about Madam Pomfrey?' Hermione asked.

'No, I've been in the hospital wing three times in four years and she's never found anything else wrong with me bar the dragon bite, the concussion I suffered from that bloody queen and my broken leg,' said Ron.

'Have you ever had a full medical scan?' she asked.

'No, I don't think so,' he said, but then he remembered something, 'that's it …' he whispered.

'What's it?'

'I just remembered something Bill once told me …'

'And that would be?'

'Well, it was ages ago so I don't know if they still do it …'

'They?' she asked, 'Do what?'

'The Goblins of Gringott's … Bill told me a few years ago that when a wizard opens a new account at the bank they offer a free medical scan using their brand of magic, only according to Bill, no bugger ever takes them up on it because of the lack of trust wizards have for goblins …' Ron said.

'We should do that then, Ron, mum and dad have Friday off and we can go to London to have them check you over …' she said.

'What if – what if it's something really bad?' he asked in a scared voice.

'Then we'll deal with it, and I'll be with you through it all, I promise,' she said.

Ron and Hermione did not speak any more and spent the vast majority of the afternoon snogging before her parents returned from work. During dinner, Hermione informed her parents about the need to visit Gringott's and they agreed to help Ron too.

On Wednesday, Ron's resolve was broken when he and Hermione shagged on her bed. She had looked so sexy and irresistible in a short summer dress that he had to have her, and he did, a lot. When they had finished, Ron almost had a panic attack as he thought they not used contraception, but Hermione quickly informed him of the potion she was taking every month, this calmed down Ron enough to want to shag her again and again and again.

Thursday saw something unexpected arrive for Ron; a letter from Sirius. In the letter Sirius expressed his sorrow for what had been decided and that he had voted against Ron's mother and Bill and Charlie at the meeting. He also told them he was pleased that he and Hermione were together as they reminded him of James and Lily. Sirius also told Ron that he could still keep Pig. Ron was rather pleased at this as he had missed the tiny, crazy owl. There was also a short letter from Percy telling him that he loved him too, and that he was glad that he and Hermione were together and also expressing his dismay at Harry's behaviour, as well as his anger with the six members of their family who had hurt Ron.

Percy's letter also told of their father's anger and dismay of how he had been treated, and details of what Percy felt was a well-earned spanking for Ginny, which made Ron smile.

Once they had finished reading the letters, Ron and Hermione went back to their love-making.

After an early wake up call, Ron and the Grangers drove to London to get last minute supplies for their holiday abroad, for which they were due to leave the next day, and they were going to the French Riviera for sun, sea and sand. Though Ron slyly added sex to the list of things beginning with S when he and Hermione were alone which earned him a giggle from her.

Luckily for Ron his wizarding passport was still valid. He had gotten it the summer his father had won the Daily Prophet Prize Draw and then they had all gone to Egypt to visit Bill. Ron's wizarding passport was also charmed to look like a muggle passport in case of emergencies. This was how Ron would be able to go abroad with the Grangers.

After finding somewhere to park, they made their way around to all the shops they needed to visit. Ron was reluctant to let Hermione's parents pay for him to go on holiday with them, buy him things he would need for said holiday, and his school supplies. Hermione's father had merely said,

'Ron, you are our guest, and it is no problem for us to pay for all this, we are fairly well-off and, after all, we can't take our money with us when we shuffle off of this mortal coil.'

Ron had no idea what Richard's words meant in simple English until Hermione translated it for him, he had never read Shakespeare and so had never heard of the expression.

Once they arrived at a shopping centre, they split up into pairs, leaving Hermione to shop for her supplies with her mother, while Ron was paired with Richard. This made sense as Ron wanted Richard's help in what he should wear.

Together they bought three pairs of beach shorts each, two pairs of sunglasses each, as well as other casual clothes for not just the holiday but for every day wear too.

When they met up with Hermione and her mother all their shopping for the holiday was complete and loaded into the boot of their car. They took a short bus ride to Charing Cross to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Once they had passed through there, they were helped into Diagon Alley by Tom the landlord. Of course going to Gringott's would not be easy as they knew that Bill worked there. However, Ron knew his brother's schedule as he made mental notes as to when his brother came home for lunch while they were still at the Burrow. So, with a look at their watches they knew that it was the perfect time to visit the bank so they went inside.

Ron and the Grangers approached the desk where a goblin was counting some gold.

Ron then cleared his throat to get the goblin's attention before speaking.

'I wish to go somewhere private to discuss the opening of a new account,' he said.

The goblin looked at Ron before saying, 'Very well, follow me.'

The goblin led them to a private office, where an older looking goblin was working.

'Bogrod, we have a young wizard who wishes to open a new account with us,' said the first goblin.

Bogrod looked up from his work before saying, 'Very well, please take a seat, young man.'

Ron took his seat as the goblin left him and the Grangers alone with Bogrod.

'I wish to open a new account with Gringott's bank,' Ron stated clearly.

'What's your name?' asked Bogrod.

'Weasley, Ron Weasley.'

'Ah, a member of the oldest pureblood family in Britain …' said Bogrod.

'Er, I suppose,' said Ron.

'A drop of your blood will be enough to confirm that you are indeed a Weasley,' said Bogrod.

Bogrod then passed Ron a knife so Ron could provide some blood for Bogrod to verify his family, and once that was proven, Bogrod asked what specifications Ron wanted on the account and the vault itself.

'I would like for my girlfriend's name to be added to the account, and the usual security charms on the vault,' Ron told him.

Hermione and her parents were shocked at Ron's request.

'Are you sure you want my name on the account?' Hermione asked.

'Yes, I am very sure. I told you that whatever is mine is yours too, even if it's not very much, besides I'm going to marry you one day …' Ron replied.

Hermione blushed as her parents looked on, while Bogrod passed the parchment to Hermione so she could sign her name to the account.

'The name on the parchment and the account will change as soon as you are married,' said Bogrod, as he looked at the parchment before adding, 'whether the ceremony is magical or muggle …'

Hermione took Ron's hand as Bogrod asked his next question.

'How much money will you be depositing with us today, Mr Weasley?'

'Four Galleons, I know it's not much …' said Ron.

'No matter,' said Bogrod as Ron placed the Galleons on to the table before Bogrod tested them to see if they were real gold, which they were.

'Wait, I have five Galleons I would like to deposit,' said Hermione, before handing over the five Galleons that Ron gave her on the Hogwarts Express.

'How much is that in our money, Hermione?' Richard asked curiously.

Hermione whispered to her father, 'It's about forty-five pounds.'

'One Galleon is worth a fiver?' he asked.

'Yes,' replied Hermione.

'In that case, I'd like to make a contribution to my daughter and future son-in-law's new account,' said Richard.

'Richard, you don't have to do that, you've done so much for me already,' said Ron.

'I'm not just doing this for you, Ron, I'm doing it for Hermione too,' said Richard.

'Dad, you don't have to do this for us –' began Hermione she was cut off by her mother.

'Hermione dear, don't try and talk your father out of this, he has made up his mind and you know how stubborn he can be.'

'There's really no way I can talk you out of this, is there?' Ron asked.

'Nope,' said Richard, popping the P.

Ron and Hermione smiled as Richard said, 'I take it that you can exchange muggle money paid into an account into Galleons?'

'Of course,' said Bogrod, sounding insulted.

'My apologies, I meant no insult,' said Richard.

'Accepted, you were merely asking a question, now, how much do you wish to add to Mr Weasley's new account?'

'Two thousand pounds, but do you take Debit Cards?' Richard said.

'We do,' said Bogrod, as he held out his long fingered hand for Richard's card.

Richard handed over the card as Bogrod did some goblin magic with it as he asked Richard to sign a piece of parchment. Once that was done, Bogrod spoke again.

'The money is in your account now, Mr Weasley, here is your copy of your vault and account details; underlining your agreement with Gringott's the Wizarding Bank. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?' said Bogrod as he handed Ron a rolled up piece of parchment.

'Yes, there is one thing. Do you still offer a free medical scan to new account holders?' Ron said.

Bogrod looked shocked for a moment before saying, 'We do, but no-one has asked us to perform this service in seven hundred and fifty-two years.'

'I am asking you today,' said Ron.

Bogrod got to his feet and said, 'If you would like to follow me.'


	13. The Goblins' Gift

_**A/N: I don't really like this chapter anymore, however, I wrote it months ago and so I'm afraid it had to stay. Furthermore, it was not my intention to upload this chapter today (May 1st), and no disrespect was or is intended. **_

Chapter Thirteen: The Goblin's Gift

After a short trip in a Gringott's cart, Ron and the Grangers had been taken to another part of the bank. When they arrived, the goblins shared a long and surprised sounding conversation in Gobbledygook before taking Ron into another room. However, the moment Ron entered this room the goblins had used magic to put him to sleep before conducting the magical scan on him.

Ron had reawakened to Bogrod standing over him.

'You're awake,' said Bogrod.

'Yeah, so is there anything wrong with me?' Ron replied.

'We ran several diagnostic scans, temporarily removing your Trace, and I can reveal what we found.'

'And?' asked Ron.

'We found a Magical Block had been placed upon your Magical Core, affecting your Magical Output and retention,' said Bogrod.

'Did you get rid of it?' Ron asked.

'We did, and we also know when it placed upon you and by whom,' said Bogrod.

How?' asked Ron.

'Magic always leaves traces, Mr Weasley, the block that was placed upon you was by Arthur Weasley and it was done on the second of February nineteen eighty-four,' said Bogrod.

'I wonder why, though …' said Ron.

'Some parents place Magical Blocks on their children for different reasons, such as that they live within close proximity to muggles, or even childhood trauma.'

'Well, we don't live too near muggles … but childhood trauma? The only really traumatic thing I can think of was when Fred turned my teddy into a spider …'

'I can only speculate but I think your father most likely placed that block on you because you were so traumatised that you were letting off bouts of magic that could have harmed your siblings,' said Bogrod.

'Perhaps, but does that mean that I'll now be able to remember what I read from now on?'

'Yes, you will, Mr Weasley.'

'Would this block have come off by itself?'

'Yes, our scans showed that it was due to come off on the first of March, nineteen ninety-six,' said Bogrod.

'Wow; that would have given me three months to be able to study properly for my O.W.L.s …'

'Indeed it would …'

Ron sat there and thought before another thing suddenly occurred to him.

'Did you say that you temporarily removed the Trace from me?'

'I did,' replied Bogrod.

'Can you remove the Trace from an underage witch or wizard permanently?'

Bogrod half grinned and said, 'Yes, we can, but it's against wizarding law.'

'Since when do goblins give a shit about wizarding law?' asked Ron.

Bogrod's grin was a full one now before he said, 'We don't and we never will.'

'So, would you remove mine and Hermione's Traces?'

'We would but the illegal removal of a Trace is not covered in our service,' Bogrod said.

'How much would it cost?'

'Twenty Galleons, each,' replied Bogrod.

'I need to talk to Hermione about this, will that be all right?'

'Of course,' said Bogrod.

Ron then left the room to talk to Hermione, who was sitting with her parents. When she saw him she jumped to her feet and ran to hug him tightly.

'Are you all right?' she asked.

'Yeah, they found what was wrong with me; it was a Magical Block affecting my Magical Output and retention, and my father did it when I was three,' Ron replied.

'Why?' she asked.

'Dunno, I can only guess, but there's something more important I have to discuss with you,' said Ron.

'Such as?' asked Hermione.

'During the examination, they temporarily removed the Trace from me so I asked Bogrod if it could be removed from us permanently, and he said about it being against wizarding law, so asked him when did goblins ever care about wizarding law, so Bogrod says that they could do it, but it's not covered in the service and it would cost twenty Galleons each, so what do you reckon, shall we get it done or not? After all, the Trace is an invasion of privacy, and it only really affects muggle-borns and a small percentage of half-bloods because they don't live in a wizarding dwelling.'

Hermione looked up into Ron's eyes and made her decision.

'Let's do it, then,' she said.

Ron and Hermione went back into the other room and gave Bogrod their consent before being given a sleeping draught.

When they both came around, Bogrod told them that the Trace had been removed from them both, but there was one last surprise.

A group of sixteen goblins walked into the room carrying an enormous trunk. They set it down in front of Ron and Hermione.

'What's this?' asked Ron.

'A gift from the Goblin Nation, Mr Weasley, a rare gift indeed, but then they are of no use to us, so take them and enjoy them,' said Bogrod.

'What are they?' asked Hermione.

'The largest known collection of Agnitio Phials anywhere in the world,' said Bogrod.

'Agnitio Phials, you're joking!' said Ron, astounded.

'No joke, and as I said, they are of no use to us, we only have them because we thought wizards would want them, however, we were mistaken, so please take them,' said Bogrod.

'Er, how do we just take them out of here? That trunk is bigger than Hermione!' said Ron.

'You or your mate simply touches it with a fingertip and say shrink,' said Bogrod.

Ron did as he was instructed and watched as the trunk shrank to a convenient pocket size.

'How do I get it to return to its normal size?' asked Ron.

'You or your mate simply touches it with a fingertip and say expand,' said Bogrod.

Hermione touched the trunk and said, 'Expand.'

They watched as the trunk returned to its normal size, so Ron shrank it again before he slipped it into his pocket.

Ron then stood up and offered his hand to Bogrod. Bogrod looked surprised but pleased as he shook hands with Ron and then Hermione.

Once they left the room, Ron and Hermione told her parents that they had had their Traces removed and about the other Goblin's gift.

Bogrod gave Ron and Hermione a key each for their vault before they went back home to finish their packing.

When they had returned home after a long drive, they collapsed on to couches in front of the television. Ron took out the shrunken trunk and expanded it once more. Ron opened it to reveal the several hundred small Phials containing knowledge and skills. The goblins had obviously taken a lot of time and effort to compile this huge collection, and they had separated them into sections. A magical section and to their surprise a muggle section, with everything carefully labelled. Hermione, meanwhile, had found the instructions on how to use the phials. According to the instructions, you simply held the open phial to your nostril and snort. She relayed this to Ron and so he picked up one of the phials to try it out and see. Hermione noticed it was marked "French".

'You don't speak French, do you?' asked Hermione.

'Nope, not a word,' Ron replied, before taking the phial.

The three Grangers watched as Ron's eyes opened and closed rapidly as the knowledge was absorbed by his brain. When he finally looked at them all, Ron said, 'Do any of you speak French?'

'Hermione and I are fluent,' said Helen.

Ron then turned to Hermione and said, '_I love you so much_,' in French.

Hermione smiled and said, also in French, '_I love you too_.'

'Bloody hell, that's amazing,' said Richard.

'Yeah, and there's loads of languages here, does that parchment of instructions say whether muggles can use them?' said Ron.

'Just a moment …' she said as she then started to read the rest of the parchment. 'Yes, muggles can use them, but I would say using the ones with magical knowledge would be pointless.'

Ron then handed the French phial to Richard and he copied Ron in taking it the way he did before whispering something into his wife's ear making her blush.

Ron then took out more of the languages and used them too.

Hermione began to look through the trunk too but made her search for the non-magical skills.

'Fencing and sword play, driving and advanced driving – oh!' said Hermione as she read out her finds.

'What's wrong?'

'The driving phials, and who the skills have been copied from …' she said in a sad voice.

Richard asked, 'Who is it?'

'Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna …' she replied.

'No way …' Richard whispered.

'Sorry, but there's an ignorant pureblood in the room …' said Ron.

Richard turned to Ron and said, 'Fangio, Prost and Senna are perhaps the greatest racing drivers of all time.'

'Oh,' said Ron.

'Not to mention the fact that Ayrton Senna died last year during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola,' Richard finished.

'Oh,' said Ron again.

Hermione put the phials back into the trunk and continued to look for more as Ron looked through the other end of the trunk.

'Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Herbology … Arithmancy, Ancient Runes …' said Ron, listing aloud his finds.

'We should use the Defence one, given the fact we've had two bad teachers and two good ones, so we're due to have a bad one for the next two years …' said Hermione.

'We've also got a bad Potions teacher, Hermione,' said Ron.

Hermione looked up at Ron and nodded before going back to her search.

'Gun marksmanship, knife skills, anti-terrorism training … interesting,' said Hermione.

'Really?' asked Ron.

'With all these we can make you into a real James Bond, can't we, Ron?' said Hermione, smiling at him.

'Add in those driving skills phials and you may be right, love,' Ron replied.

'Well, whichever ones you two decide to use can wait until tomorrow, we need to eat and then go to bed,' said Helen.

The others agreed and so they ordered Chinese takeaway, which Ron had never eaten before so Hermione ordered for him, before going to bed and falling asleep seconds after their heads hit the pillow.


	14. New Skills

Chapter Fourteen: New Skills

Ron awoke very early the next morning, and normally he would try and go back to sleep, but this morning he got out of bed before putting on his dressing gown. As he left his room he noticed that Hermione's door was closed and he assumed she was not awake yet. However, this assumption was proven wrong when he walked into the kitchen and saw that Hermione was making her morning cup of coffee as she was waiting for the kettle to boil.

Ron quietly approached his girlfriend and then slipped his arms around her waist from behind. She was startled slightly but easily relaxed into his embrace.

'Morning, beautiful,' he whispered into her ear.

'Morning, handsome,' she replied.

Hermione turned around to put her arms around his neck and then kissed him softly on the lips. Ron responded by deepening the kiss before lifting her on to the side. They continued to snog as Ron stood between her legs.

When they finally broke apart, Ron said, 'Did you know that everything about you is just so soft?'

Hermione raised her eyebrow and said, 'How so?'

'Your hair, it's the most beautiful hair I've ever seen and touched, not to mention so soft. Then we come to your lovely, soft brown eyes, so beautiful. Next, are your soft, pouty lips, which I love kissing at any and all opportunity … your skin, Hermione, it's just as soft and smooth, and I can't get enough of it under my fingertips, your beautiful body, firm but soft breasts, flat little tummy, which is also really soft, as is your touch … I love your small, soft hands when you touch me and hold hands with me … then there are my favourite parts of you that are below your waist … your perfect arse … your tight little pussy … and your luscious legs, mmm, my favourite …'

As Ron had said all this, his hands had roamed all over her body as he named each area, and right now his hands were softly caressing her thighs.

'Oh, Ron,' moaned Hermione.

It was then that the kettle boiled and Ron poured the boiling water into Hermione's coffee cup and stirred it for her before making himself his morning coffee. When he had finished he saw that Hermione had crossed her legs.

'Do you know how sexy you are when you do that?' he asked.

'Do what?' she replied.

'Cross your legs, I know girls do it all the time, but when _you_ do it … it's so sexy,' he told her.

Hermione gave him a small smile as Ron moved their coffees to the kitchen table. He then took her by the waist and helped her down to the floor. They took seats so Ron sat close to her and pulled her feet into his lap to rub them. It was then he noticed what she was wearing under her dressing gown.

'Is that my Chudley Cannons shirt?' he asked.

'Mmm-hmm,' she murmured.

'Why?'

'Because I wanted something of yours to sleep in and this was the best choice,' she replied.

'I love you, Hermione,' he said softly.

'I love you too, Ron,' she said softly.

When their drinks were no longer too hot to drink, Ron ceased the foot rub he was giving to her in order to drink his coffee. When they finished their drinks, Ron washed up their cups before scooping Hermione up and carrying her into the living room where the trunk full of Agnitio Phials was still open. They sat down and discussed which ones to use and eventually decided to use the ones for Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the muggle skills they had found the previous night such as the driving, weapons, martial arts/self-defence and the military tactics and anti-terrorism skills phials. They also found phials for Medicine and Psychology. When they were finished, Ron and Hermione lay down together on the couch with Hermione lying on top of him.

'How do you feel?' she asked, looking down into the blue eyes she loved so much.

'I dunno, I guess I'm still absorbing it all in, I mean yesterday I didn't know about Freud and Jung …' Ron replied as he pushed her hair out of her face.

'I had, but I had not really read their theories …'

'I know; it's bloody weird, isn't it?' he said.

'You can say that again,' Hermione said, but Ron could not say anything as she kissed him deeply again.

'Hold me,' she said.

Ron complied as they snuggled into each other and fell asleep.

When they awoke they heard her parents moving around, so they got up to see what they were doing. Hermione's parents were making breakfast and so they joined them for a healthy helping of cereal and or toast. Once breakfast was over Ron and Hermione went to dress for the day.

As they were leaving for their holiday all their packing was complete so all they had to do was load it into the car which took no time at all, then once back inside, Ron and Hermione looked through the trunk again.

'Are you sure you don't want to take the ones for Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration?' Ron asked.

'Yes, it would feel like cheating,' she replied.

'We took Potions and Defence …' Ron reminded her.

'For good reason, if you remember?'

'Fine, we won't take them, but what are Legillimency and Occlumency?' he asked having found the two subsequent phials.

'I don't know,' Hermione replied.

Ron gasped and said, 'Blimey stop the presses! Something Hermione Jean Granger doesn't know!'

Hermione scowled at Ron while her parents just chuckled, which made Hermione turn her scowl towards them before joining in with the laughter.

Ron then found a small, folded piece of parchment and opened it to read aloud.

'"_Occlumency is the little known ability of mind defence from external penetration, for example; Legillimency."'_

'That answers that question,' said Hermione.

'Shall we use them?' Ron asked.

Hermione paused for a moment to think before saying, 'Yes, I think we should.'

Ron agreed and so they took the phials.

It was soon time for them all to leave for their holiday so Ron shrank the trunk and put it in Hermione's closet before he, Hermione and her parents got into the car to go to the ferry port.


	15. Home Truths

Chapter Fifteen: Home Truths

Harry Potter's summer had been going badly. First of all, he was bored, second, he still had summer assignments to complete but without someone to translate the babble into English, he was stuck. He had been back in Privet Drive for a few weeks, and was disappointed in the quality of the letters he had been receiving. When he had asked when he was going to be getting out of Privet Drive, he had been given a somewhat vague answer. He received letters from Ginny and Neville as they were now his two closest friends, of course, with Ron and Hermione no longer his friends he wondered who on earth was going to translate the waffle that was his summer assignments and he supposed the work for his classes this year. One of the letters from Ginny had informed him of Ron's running away from home, though Ginny had not really explained the fact that Ron hated their Auntie Muriel so much that he'd rather live rough. Harry guessed that Ron had gone to Hermione's house, wherever that might be. It was in that moment that Harry suddenly realised that he knew almost nothing about the bushy haired girl who had been his friend for four years until recently, all he knew was that her parents were dentists.

Harry's inner musings were cut off by Vernon calling him.

Harry moved downstairs to find out what he had done this time.

'You bellowed?' said Harry.

'I've been thinking, and I've decided that you need to pull your weight around here so you're going to be doing odd jobs around the neighbourhood, but don't think for one minute you'll be getting any money, you cost us too much to keep already –'

'No, I don't think so,' said Harry, cutting off Vernon.

'What did you say?' said Vernon, loudly.

'You heard me, and I suggest that you keep your voice down, the window is open and you wouldn't want the neighbours to hear,' said Harry.

'Now, you listen hear, boy –'

'No, you listen, I'm not doing anything you tell me to do, do you know why, I'll tell you why. For as long as I've lived here I've been keeping you _alive_, safe from Dark Wizards who would want to find me and hurt me as well as you, and how do you thank me? By stuffing me in the cupboard under the stairs, treating me like a slave, and giving me a bad reputation around the neighbourhood, well no more! If anyone in this house needs to pull their weight around here, it's your fat, lazy, moron you call a son, as he is the one eating you out of house and home!' said Harry.

'OI!' said Dudley.

'Well, you are fat and lazy, aren't you?' said Harry, 'What about your schoolwork? You do realise that next year you'll be taking some very important exams, don't you? Exams that you _won't_ be able to bully a smart kid to take for you, like you would for homework, you'll have to study all by yourself, and you'll have to do your own coursework and homework and then, take your own exams. You'll have to do it _all by yourself_, do you not know this, or are you expecting to live off of mummy and daddy forever?'

Dudley merely shrugged.

'So you've given no thought as to what you want to do for a job or career, to be able to make a home for yourself?' asked Harry.

Dudley shrugged again.

Harry laughed and said, 'All your crap about being better than "my lot" and yet you're just like the snooty purebloods who think much the same way as you do!'

'What about girls?' Harry went on, 'Do you think about girls at all? Take a look at yourself, Dudley, do you think any girl who isn't blind or deaf could possibly find you attractive or interesting? You are fat and lazy and you aren't going to amount to anything if you don't get up off of your fat arse and sort out your fucking life!'

Harry then turned back to Vernon and Petunia and said, 'Of course it's not all Dudley's fault for the way he is, it's mostly yours, you pampered him and spoiled him, let him get away with bullying other kids at primary school and you've been turning a blind eye to the letters you've received about his behaviour from that snobby school you send him to, which I'm sure is not cheap meaning _Dudley is wasting your money_. Give _him_ the jobs you were hoping to fob off on to me and maybe he'll lose some bloody weight and then tell him he needs to work harder at school or he's going to end up in the gutter or in prison, but hey, if you want him _sponging off of you for the rest of your lives_, then don't do anything, now, I am going back upstairs to my bedroom to make no noise and pretend that I don't exist.'

Harry then walked out of the living room, giving all three Dursleys plenty to think about, but then he came back in and said, 'Oh, by the way, the wizard who _murdered_ my parents is back and all there is between him and the three of you is me, cheerio!'

'What?' shouted Vernon, 'that's not possible, that big bloke said he was gone!'

'Gone does not mean dead, does it? After all when Dudley is gone and away at school, you don't tell people he's dead, do you?' Harry replied.

'Are you sure?' asked Petunia, speaking for the first time in the conversation.

'Yes, I saw the bastard come back, but don't expect any extra protection from the Ministry of Magic, because they aren't doing anything to warn people or prepare for the inevitable war as they don't want to believe me, so you need to be on the alert, however, while I am here, you are safe from Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, because of some powerful wards that are recharging due to my presence and will continue to work after I leave for the summer, whenever that might be, and when I go back to school.'

'We'll be safe?' asked Dudley.

'According to one of my father's best friends who got it from Dumbledore, yes,' said Harry.

Then, without another word, Harry left the room and went back upstairs to continue with his brooding and to wait to hear from someone on when he would be leaving, he just hoped it would be before his birthday.


	16. Back to School

Chapter Sixteen: Back to School

The last four weeks on the south coast of France had been wonderful, but now Ron and the Grangers had returned home. Hermione was surprised that Ron had not been burned to a crisp by the sun like most redheads were. Ron merely raised an eyebrow and said, 'I'm a wizard, Hermione.'

So Ron had a rather nice suntan after an amazing holiday with his girlfriend and her parents. He and Hermione had gotten a rather large amount of alone time on the holiday. Her parents often went to places to be alone leaving Ron and Hermione to their own devices. Most of their time had been spent swimming in the pool at their hotel. Of course, they too, went to places around the resort to see the sights that Ron had not seen before. Being with Hermione away from everything and everyone was wonderful. The smile he saw on her face filled his heart with even more love for her, as they went everywhere holding hands. They shared kisses, they were in constant contact and they would make love back at the hotel when her parents were off somewhere together. Ron had fallen even more in love with Hermione and was happier than he ever thought he could be. He gave no thought to Voldemort, no thought for his former family or his former best friend, to him, all he needed was Hermione.

It was now the final week of August but there was still no sign of their Hogwarts letters. Hermione could not help being worried, but according to the _Daily Prophet_, everything was running normally. Hermione noticed that in some of the stories they were taking snide digs at Harry Potter, but neither of them could find it within themselves to care or feel sorry for their former friend. So, with the news that everything was all right, it was decided that the four of them would spend the last few days of the summer holidays at the Leaky Cauldron.

It was on the eve of their return to Hogwarts that their letters arrived. Hermione, in her excitement, tore open her letter to see the book lists. However, also inside the letter, was a Prefect's badge.

'Oh, my goodness!' she exclaimed, 'I'm a Prefect!'

'Well done, sweetheart,' said her mother, as her father smiled at her proudly.

'Well done, love,' said Ron, before giving her a kiss.

Ron let go of Hermione to open his own letter, and to his utter astonishment, he found a Prefect's badge inside.

'Bloody hell,' he breathed, 'I'm a Prefect as well …'

'Oh, Ron, that's wonderful!' squealed Hermione, joyfully.

Hermione gave him a kiss in congratulations.

'Well done, Ron,' said Richard, clapping him on the back.

'Congratulations, but you seem shocked,' said Helen.

'Well, yeah, I am, I never thought I'd get picked over Potter or Longbottom, so this is a real surprise,' Ron told them.

Richard and Helen shared a look before asking to look at the badges before holding a very small and personal celebration for Ron and Hermione, as tomorrow they needed to acquire the books required for school before taking the Hogwarts' Express from platform nine and three quarters.

After an early start, Richard and Helen went to Gringott's to exchange some money and bought two sets of required books before returning to the Leaky Cauldron. Once the trunks were packed, the four of them shared breakfast before going to King's Cross station. When they got to the barrier on platform nine and three quarters, they stopped to say their goodbyes.

'Have a good term, you two,' said Helen, kindly before giving Hermione and Ron a hug each before Richard hugged his daughter and shook hands with Ron.

'Look after each other, okay?' he said, 'and I expect one letter a week from both of you.'

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, 'We'll write, Dad, I promise.'

'Thank you both for everything, this has been the best summer of my life,' said Ron.

Helen gave him a smile before giving him a second hug. 'See you at Christmas?' she asked.

'Definitely,' replied Ron, as Hermione nodded fervently.

They all then said goodbye before Ron and Hermione went through the barrier together. Loading their trunks took no time and so they slipped on to the train unnoticed. They made their way to the Prefect compartments and went inside the first unoccupied one they found. Ron closed the door behind them as well as the blinds. He turned around to see that Hermione was taking her cloak and knee socks out of her carry-on bag.

'I've just got time to slip these on before the Prefect meeting,' she murmured.

Ron, however, walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and began to kiss her neck.

'Fuck, you're so sexy, Hermione,' he said huskily into her ear, 'been waiting to get you alone for ages …'

'Oh, Ron,' she whimpered, as he kissed her neck.

He was also pressing his groin into her and she could feel just how much he wanted her, he then grabbed her right hand and placed it on his hard cock, and said, 'Do you feel that, Hermione, do you feel my rock hard cock against your palm?'

'Yesss …' she whispered.

'Tonight, I'm going to fuck you with it, I'm going to fuck you so hard and for so long you won't remember your name, but when I cum hard into your hot, dripping pussy, I'm going to scream it to the heavens so you'll be reminded, I love you so much, my sweet Hermione …'

'Yes, tonight, Ron, definitely … love you so much, want you so much …' she whispered.

Ron then spun Hermione around to kiss her on the lips for several moments.

When they stopped, they leaned their foreheads together and Hermione said, 'We need to go to the Prefect meeting.'

Ron sighed before they separated and then put on his cloak as Hermione did the same and then they left their compartment.

As Ron expected, they were the first to arrive, so they took a seat and waited, eventually the Head Boy and Girl arrived, followed by the rest of the Prefects. Another thing Ron expected was that Malfoy and Parkinson would be the chosen Prefects for Slytherin, and lo and behold, he was bang on the money. Neither Ron nor Hermione acknowledged the two fifth year Slytherins and just listened to the instructions the Head Girl was giving to them all. He and Hermione were each given a copy of their patrol schedule before being told that the meeting was over. They left for their compartment and once inside, Ron pounced upon her again, pulling her into another passionate kiss as his cupped her breasts through her shirt making her moan aloud, unfortunately, there was a knock on their door. Ron and Hermione stopped kissing to straighten themselves up and sat down next to each other very closely before Ron flicked his wand at the door to unlock it.

When the door opened they saw that the people wanting entry were Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, as well as Crabbe and Goyle.

Before Ron could take out his wand, Malfoy said, 'There's no need for wands, Weasley, we come in peace.'

Ron was not sure to make of this. He could not be certain that Malfoy was going to even talk to him and Hermione since their parting company with Harry Potter. 'Well, okay, but what do you want?' he replied.

It looked as though Malfoy was taking the time to choose his next words very carefully before finally speaking.

'Look, there's no beating around the bush, Weasley, but the two of you and us are not friends and we probably never will be, but I have heard about your falling out with Saint Potter, of course I have no idea what it was about and I don't care, however, as much as I don't like the two of you, I like Potter even less, so I am proposing a truce between us, and by us I mean the two of you and most of Slytherin House …'

Ron and Hermione shared a look before Ron turned back to Malfoy and said, 'We'll accept the truce on one condition, and that's that you don't call Hermione that derogatory word about her parentage anymore.'

'I think that's acceptable,' said Malfoy.

'Is there anything else?' Ron asked.

'There is one more thing, and that is we are wondering where you stand given the current climate,' Malfoy enquired.

Ron and Hermione shared another look before Ron said, 'We acknowledge that Voldemort is back, and there is a war coming, however, we are not on Potter's side, and yet we have no interest in joining Voldemort, either.'

'You are going to remain neutral?' asked Malfoy, curiously.

Ron shrugged and said, 'We are on our own side, so first and foremost we fight for ourselves.'

'I can understand that, if you are threatened then you will defend yourselves,' Malfoy said.

'Yes, so do you still want this truce?' replied Ron.

'Yes, I think a truce between us will be equally beneficial,' said Malfoy.

'I agree,' said Ron.

'As do I,' said Hermione.

'In that case we shall take our leave, Weasley, Granger, see you later,' said Malfoy, before leaving their compartment and taking the others with him.

'That was odd,' said Hermione, once the door was spelled again.

'Maybe, maybe not,' Ron replied.

'What do you mean?' asked Hermione.

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' Ron told her.

'Hmm, you might have something there …' she said thinking.

'Indeed, but I also have something right here …' Ron said as wrapped his arms around her again.

'Smooth, Ronald, very smooth,' she said with a flirty smirk.

Ron then said, 'How long until we have to patrol the train?'

Hermione looked at her watch and said, 'Twenty minutes.'

'Well, let's spend these twenty minutes doing something productive …' Ron said suggestively.

Hermione did not get to speak as Ron was kissing her again as she was pulled on to his lap.

After a full twenty minutes of their mouths being firmly attached, they straightened themselves up to look presentable before beginning their patrol. As they made their way through the train, they spotted their year mates, who gave them odd looks, before they moved on to the next carriage. The next carriage full of students barely paid them any attention, so they moved on again. As they entered the next carriage they spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle standing outside a compartment. Ron and Hermione shared a look as they shared another conversation with their eyes, and came to the same conclusion; Malfoy had found Potter.

Ron and Hermione walked over to where Malfoy was standing.

'Hello again, Draco,' said Ron, pleasantly.

The look on the occupants of compartments faces were a contrast. Potter put on his neutral face, Ginny looked at him and Hermione with sheer contempt, while Longbottom looked scared. Fred and George just looked angry. There was also a girl with dirty blonde hair sitting with them who Ron was sure was a year younger than he and Hermione.

'Are these people bothering you, Draco?' asked Ron.

'Not really, I was just letting them know their place, Ron,' replied Draco.

'Am I right in assuming that you were informing them that you have been named a Prefect?' Ron asked.

'I thought it would be prudent,' Malfoy replied.

'I agree, Draco, would you mind leaving Hermione and I to do the same?' Ron requested.

'Not at all, Ron, Hermione, go right ahead, I am sure I will have plenty of time to put these people in their place throughout the year, see you both later on,' said Draco, before leaving with Crabbe and Goyle.

They turned back to look at Potter and his new friends, and were met with looks of shock and hatred, while the girl with dirty blonde just looked at them oddly.

Ron turned to look at her and said, 'Why are you staring at us?'

'You are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,' she said.

'The last time we looked, yeah, and you are?' he replied.

'Luna Lovegood, I'm a fourth year Ravenclaw,' she said.

'Nice to meet you, Luna,' said Ron as Hermione gave her a smile.

'That's nice of you to say,' said Luna.

Ron gave her a smile before turning to the others in the compartment.

'As I am sure you have gathered, Hermione and I have been appointed as Prefects, now how were your summers? Mine was excellent,' said Ron, smugly.

There was an eerie silence in the compartment before Fred broke it.

'So this is what you've been doing, Ron, making friends with a scumbag like Malfoy?'

'Become a junior Death Eater, too?' added George, facetiously.

'Aw, have you been worried about me?' said Ron, sarcastically. 'Now, as I was saying I had an amazing summer with Hermione and her parents, I went to the south of France where I had an amazing time getting plenty of sun and sand. No cleaning of a grotty old house for us, just fun in the sun, and believe me, there was plenty of fun.'

'How did you get chosen to be a Prefect, Ron, you're a useless git,' said Ginny.

'That's still preferable to what you are – a wand-happy little slag who cast aside her own flesh and blood in order to get closer to her pathetic schoolgirl crush, and make him notice her,' retorted Ron.

'OI!' yelled Fred and George simultaneously.

'What, I'm not allowed to retort when someone gives me shit, well, tough shit, arseholes,' said Ron.

'What is it you wanted?' asked Harry.

'From you, Potter?' began Ron, 'absolutely nothing, but you can give Snuffles a message, and the message is simple, coming to the platform in his disguise was foolish, particularly since Pettigrew has had plenty of time to tell Voldemort, who has more than likely told his other followers.'

Harry paled and realised that Ron was right.

Ron then said, 'There is one more thing you need to know, Potter, and you, my so-called family, and it's this: I don't need you. I don't need any of you, and I certainly don't need Bill, Charlie or Molly Weasley anymore. I am happier now than I've ever been in my life. I don't have to put up with all the crap that surrounds Harry Potter anymore and I sure as fuck don't have to do a fucking thing to help you survive. Neither Hermione nor I need you; we have each other so why the hell do we need you?

'After all Hermione is the most intelligent witch to ever set foot in Hogwarts and is smarter than the five of you combined. As for me, you'll soon find that I am full of surprises … and as long as I have Hermione, the rest of you can burn for all I care.'

'Right then, you can go now, can't you?' said Ginny, harshly.

'Yes, I think we can, see you around, Potter, Longbottom, twins and spanky,' said Ron, coolly.

Ginny went red with anger; she got to her feet, drew her wand and pointed it at Ron's face.

Hermione then drew her wand and pointed it in Ginny's face.

Ron was calm and cool as he said, 'You'd better be sure.'

Ginny thought for a moment before putting away her wand, while Hermione lowered her own but still remained ready just in case.

'Good choice, _spanky_, after all the hexing, jinxing or cursing of a Prefect is a serious offence; you don't want to have detention for a month, do you? See you around, Luna.'

Ginny, humiliated, sat down and said nothing while Fred and George glared at their younger brother until Ron and Hermione left the compartment.

'Could this year get any worse?' asked Harry.

Ron and Hermione got back to their compartment and spent the rest of the journey making out and patrolling the train until they arrived at Hogsmeade station.


	17. Late Supper

Chapter Seventeen: Late Supper

The train had come to a stand-still, and it was time to disembark. Leaving their belongings on the train as per usual, Ron and Hermione made their way to the horseless carriages. Ron and Hermione took one to themselves before the carriage began to move. They spent the journey up to Hogwarts sitting close together but neither speaking nor kissing, instead just keeping each other warm. It was not a long time before they were back in the Great Hall and sitting down at the Gryffindor table. They then watched as other Gryffindors filed in with other students from the other three houses.

Ron allowed his attention to drift while the new students were sorted, instead he took the time to stroke and squeeze Hermione's thigh under the table before the food appeared. He and Hermione shared a polite conversation while watching the rest of the Gryffindors out of the corners of their eyes.

Once the food was eaten, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and began to welcome them all, before giving out the usual start of term notices, until he was interrupted by the pink-clad woman who had been sitting at the staff table. Ron and Hermione had already guessed that she was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. They listened to what she was saying and what she was not saying, although Ron would have happily dropped off to sleep as she droned on with her unimpressive speech about reform. It was also difficult to suppress the thought that something about the new professor wasn't right at all. This was confirmed when they heard Harry whisper to Neville that she worked for the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Finally, Professor Umbridge stopped talking and sat down once more. The Headmaster managed to give out the rest of the notices without being interrupted and was able to bring the feast to an end. Ron and Hermione got to their feet quickly to escort the new first year Gryffindors to Gryffindor Tower.

'Miss Granger!' called Professor McGonagall.

'Go on, Ron, I'll catch you up, okay?' Hermione told Ron before going over to Professor McGonagall.

Ron led the new Gryffindors to the tower without lecturing them along the way. Once inside the tower, Ron told them all which staircase led where, before telling them they should all get off to bed as lessons would be starting in the morning. Ron then made his way up to the fifth floor of the tower. He was looking forward to having his own room, which was definitely a perk of being a Prefect, as he now didn't have to worry about his former roommates' habits any more. However, on his way to his room he heard raised voices coming from the fifth year boy's dorm, so being a Prefect, he decided to investigate so he went inside. He found Potter and Finnigan trading insults.

'What the hell is going on in here?' he asked.

'Seamus was calling Harry a mad liar,' answered Neville.

'Harry was insulting Seamus' mum,' said Dean Thomas.

'I see, well, I shall have to report this to Professor McGonagall, so I suggest you all calm down and go to bed, goodnight,' said Ron, before going to his new room. He walked up another flight of stairs before finding the room marked "Fifth Year Prefect", and went inside.

Ron might've been impressed with the room but was more impressed with the fact that Hermione was waiting for him.

'Hi,' he said.

'Hi, where have you been?' she replied.

'Potter and Finnigan were getting into it, so I intervened, why?' replied Ron as he approached her and slipped his arms around her waist.

'Just wondering, and besides, we need to see Professor Dumbledore right now, that's why Professor McGonagall wanted to speak to me,' said Hermione.

Ron groaned and said, 'Bloody hell, what does he want?'

'We won't know until we find out, will we?' Hermione said.

'Wait, before we leave, I need to kiss you again,' said Ron, before he lowered his lips to hers and she kissed him back passionately.

Once the kiss was over, Ron murmured, 'Later, I'm going to fuck you …' he then gave her backside a swat and pinch, making Hermione smile and giggle before going to see the Headmaster.

The walk to Dumbledore's study did not take long, Hermione gave the password, 'Sugar quill,' before the gargoyle moved to allow them to climb the stairs up to the Headmaster's office and knock on the door.

'Enter,' called Dumbledore's voice.

Ron and Hermione did so and found Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, however, he was not alone as he was joined by Professor McGonagall.

'Good evening to you both,' greeted Dumbledore.

'Good evening, Professors,' replied Ron and Hermione in turn.

'Would you both like to take a seat?' offered Dumbledore as he indicated the two empty chairs.

Ron pulled the two chairs closer together before inviting Hermione to sit before taking his chair.

Dumbledore began to speak, 'I was very sorry to hear of the demise of your friendships with Harry Potter, I feel that no matter what others feel Harry needs you both more than ever, so I am going to ask for your help.'

'You want us to help you help Harry Potter, you mean?' said Ron.

'Indeed I do,' replied Dumbledore.

'Do you have any idea what Potter did to me?' asked Ron angrily.

'Yes, I do, Mr Weasley,' replied Dumbledore apologetically.

Ron could hear the apologetic tone in the old man's voice, and a part of him wanted to tell Dumbledore that as far as he was concerned Harry Potter could burn in hell, but the voice of his conscience spoke to him, it told him that he, Ron, would be helping Albus Dumbledore, one of his boyhood heroes. Ron also couldn't help notice the voice of his conscience sounded a lot like Hermione's voice.

'I _would_ like to help _you_, Professor,' said Ron, before he stood up and removed his cloak and tie, and then continued, 'for the duration of this meeting neither Hermione nor I are Hogwarts students, and we will speak freely, okay?'

'Very well,' said Dumbledore.

'The first thing I want to know is why you have allowed an idiot from the Ministry to take up a position here?' asked Ron.

'I could not find anyone to take over the Defence position for this year so the Ministry passed an Educational Decree saying that they would appoint a suitable candidate if and only if I was unable to find one,' Dumbledore told them.

'Suitable candidate, what are Madam Umbridge's qualifications?' asked Hermione, 'furthermore she had no right to stand up and make a speech to the students during the start of term feast; it's a clear violation of Hogwarts' Protocol.'

'You should have shut her up before she got started, Headmaster, because technically she is your employee now, what happened instead made you look weak, and we cannot have that. You see, it's just you should know that you are a hero to many of the younger students and to a fair few of the older students too, you are still Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age and you don't take crap from _anyone_,' Ron told him.

'I agree with Mr Weasley, Albus,' said Professor McGonagall.

'No, I am Ron, Mr Weasley is my dad, Professor,' Ron corrected.

'You are quite right, Ron, I should have cut her off at the pass before she attempted to put the students to sleep with her propaganda,' said Dumbledore.

'I don't know about putting students to sleep with her crap, I think they were more shocked that a fat toad could talk, and while we're on the subject of Umbridge, you cannot allow Potter to be alone with her for any reason whatsoever, you see I think she's dangerous, and yes, just as dangerous as Voldemort, but in a different way, so you and the rest of the Professors need to keep an eye on her,' said Ron.

'You think she would harm Mr Potter?' asked Dumbledore.

'I think that she thinks she can do no wrong while she's here, even above the law, speaking of the law, I heard from Percy that Potter was brought up on charges before the Wizengamot, what happened exactly?' replied Ron.

'Mr Potter and his cousin were attacked by Dementors in August and Harry used magic to fight them off, at first he was expelled by Fudge, but I reminded him that the Ministry does not have the authority expel students from school, so a hearing was arranged, it was supposed to be heard by Madam Bones, the Head of DMLE, but Fudge changed the time and place to courtroom ten and the case was tried by the full court with Fudge as judge,' said Dumbledore.

'That's illegal for a start!' exclaimed Hermione, 'in the absence of the Chief Warlock, the Head of DMLE should preside, how much notice did Potter receive when the time and place was changed?'

'He was informed when he arrived with Arthur Weasley,' answered Dumbledore.

'That's illegal, too, Potter was supposed to receive at least twenty-four hours' notice about a change in time and or place,' said Hermione.

'What happened after they attempted to low-ball him?' asked Ron.

'I can show you both the trial from my memory, that would be easier,' replied Dumbledore, before getting to his feet and collecting what looked like a stone dish with runes alone the side.

'This is called a Pensieve, it will allow you to view my memory,' said Dumbledore, before drawing his wand and placing the tip to his temple to draw out a silver/blue string, he then placed the string into the Pensieve and invited Ron and Hermione to view it by touching the substance and were sucked downwards into the courtroom.

When it was over, Ron said, 'That's another law Fudge violated, he began the hearing while an under-aged wizard was unaccompanied by an advocate, not to mention he tried an underage wizard as an adult for a juvenile crime, that whole thing was a bloody farce! But more importantly I think it was Umbridge who sent the Dementors to Little Whinging.'

'You think so?' asked a shocked Professor McGonagall.

'Yeah, I watched her pretty carefully, and that ridiculous high, false laugh of hers makes my skin crawl, she did it, I know she did,' said Ron, with a tone of absolution.

'You are probably correct, Ron, but without any proof there is nothing that can be done,' said Dumbledore.

'What about Voldemort, what is he doing?' asked Hermione.

Dumbledore smiled at the fact that both Ron and Hermione were using Voldemort's name and answered, 'He is staying in the shadows while rebuilding his army, recruiting new bodies, and most likely planning to break open Azkaban before trying to obtain something he thinks he needs to defeat Harry Potter once and for all.'

'What are you doing to stop him?' asked Ron.

'I have reformed the Order of the Phoenix; it is a resistance group I founded during the last war, we are doing all we can but as the Minister is not doing anything, our efforts to stop him are unaided. We are few and the Death Eaters are many …' said Dumbledore.

'It sounds like you really need our help, we will do all we can to help you help Potter but you cannot let him or anybody else know that we are, the reason for that is that we have a truce with Draco Malfoy and hopefully he'll let slip some things, the next thing is that as Voldemort won't exactly wait until Potter is seventeen to attack him, you need to start really preparing him and others, maybe start a Defence group, but let him run it, even if it has to be done under the nose of that toad, every student needs to be prepared for what's coming, another thing we want is that Snape better not treat us like crap any more, he has made Hermione cry at least once for the last two years, if he gives us any crap, I'll break him, also, we are going to need a free reign in how we do things because anything could happen and we might not have time to consult you on a solution,' Ron told them.

Dumbledore merely said, 'I agree to your terms.'

'Very well,' said Ron, 'I would also like to make a change to my timetable, and that is to drop Divination, unless you have the sight, the subject is a complete waste of time, so I will be dropping it.'

'I agree to your request, anything else?' replied Dumbledore.

'Not right now, but in the future, you'll owe us a favour, okay?' Ron said.

'Very well, so long as the favour you ask of me is nothing illegal …' said Dumbledore.

'No, it _definitely_ won't be,' said Ron.

'I think now would be a good place to end our meeting, we all have an early start in the morning,' said Dumbledore.

Ron stood up and collected his cloak and tie, and said goodnight to the two professors, along with Hermione, and the two of them left to go back to Gryffindor tower. When they got there, they went up to Ron's private room, and due to the late hour, they simply got undressed, got into Ron's bed together and fell asleep in each other's arms.


	18. Are You Prepared?

Chapter Eighteen: Are You Prepared?

Ron was awoken the next morning by Hermione's lips on his. Ron smiled as she kissed him awake and he decided that this was the best way to be woken up in the whole world ever. When they stopped kissing, he looked into her brown eyes and said, 'Good morning, my love.'

'Good morning to you, too, but we need to get dressed,' she replied.

'Yeah, staying here all day to make love would probably get us in the shite,' replied Ron.

Hermione sighed and stood up and made to dress.

'By the way, how did you get in here last night, before me I mean,' Ron said.

'We're connected, just through that door there's a small common room where we can study and do our homework together, as well as sit down by the fire, my room's just off that, though I don't think you'll be able to come into my room,' replied Hermione, as she pointed at a door.

'We'll have to use that room after classes, won't we?' said Ron.

'I think that goes without saying, sweetheart,' replied Hermione.

Ron quickly washed and dressed before meeting Hermione in the common room and then they set off for breakfast.

Meanwhile, Dolores Umbridge was making her way to the Headmaster's study. She was surprised but pleased to receive his summons this morning. She had already begun to plot how she would soon be in the very office she was on her way to as she reached the gargoyle outside and gave the password. _'Silly old man, sweets for a password,' _she thought scathingly.

Once she was up the steps, she entered without knocking.

'You wanted to speak to me, Dumbledore?' she said.

'I did indeed, Dolores,' replied Dumbledore.

Umbridge made to sit down but Dumbledore spoke again.

'I did not invite you to sit, Dolores. I summoned you here to inform you of something. Now, while you work at the Ministry of Magic as Senior Undersecretary, you are in the employ of Minister Fudge, however, right now, you are the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and that makes you my employee – despite the fact that I did not hire you myself, and last night you overstepped your bounds and violated Hogwarts' Protocol by giving an unauthorised speech to my students in my school. I must insist that you apologise to the entire school at breakfast or I will be forced into removing you from my school, furthermore, you will treat my teachers, students and this school with respect. I am your employer and if you wish to remain employed here you will do as I tell you, and, finally, you have until Friday to provide me with your qualifications in the field of Defence Against the Dark Arts, you are dismissed.'

The look of shock on her face was one that Dumbledore would commit to his memory forever, and it might even fuel his Patronus, too.

He watched as she stood up and made to leave his study.

'Oh, one more thing, Dolores, you are on probation, good day to you,' said Dumbledore, coolly before watching her face turn an ugly shade of red as she left.

Back in the Great Hall, Severus Snape was eating his breakfast and thinking about what had occurred earlier in the Headmaster's study. Professor McGonagall had given him a right earful about the treatment of "her lions". She had used words that he did not think she even knew. Making students cry was unacceptable and unprofessional, she had yelled at him, before warning him that if she got another report about him from any student, he would find out why there's an unwritten law that you do not fuck with the Transfiguration teacher.

Meanwhile, in the hall, Ron and Hermione were eating breakfast together and happily ignoring the looks from the other Gryffindors. Eventually, Professor McGonagall handed out timetables, and they heard the moan from their former friend about their Mondays. Potions, History of Magic, and Defence Against the Dark Arts were what made up Ron's Monday. Hermione had the same but with Arithmancy before DADA. They even heard the twins offering something called Nosebleed Nougat cheap to get out of the lessons, but were declined. Hermione would have confiscated the lot in a heartbeat given the chance.

Once breakfast ended Ron and Hermione made their way to Potions. The class itself was not all that bad. The Draught of Peace was a fiddly potion to make but they both managed to make a good job of their first attempt, while Snape singled out Harry for forgetting the hellebore before moving on to lambaste Longbottom's hopeless concoction and then moving away.

During History of Magic, Ron sat and doodled on his parchment throughout the entire class, while Hermione paid attention to what Professor Binns was saying. Of course, she was the only one that was, but she still managed to tell off Ron for doodling when the class ended. Ron gave her the excuse that he was tired and the fact that Binns' voice had the power to send people to sleep seemed to placate her and she agreed to lend him her notes while she was in Arithmancy.

Ron went back to Gryffindor tower and his dormitory to read Hermione's notes. As usual, Hermione's small, but beautiful handwriting stood out on the parchment. Ron marvelled at it as he had always done. He had never cared much for the subject; the allure of Hermione's notes lay in her handwriting. It was then he realised how bad he had it for her before shaking his head and reading the detailed notes his girlfriend had given him.

Ron met up again with Hermione after her Arithmancy class. She gave him a smile that told him that she had missed him during her class before they made their way to Defence. Once there, they were invited to take out their books and to read the course aims written on the board as well as to read the useless book they had all been set. However, after a few minutes, Ron raised his hand.

Umbridge was trying to ignore his hand but Ron kept his hand in the air until Umbridge had no choice but to call on him.

'Yes, Mr –?' she said.

'Weasley, Ron Weasley, I have a question for you,' replied Ron.

'About what, Mr Weasley?' she asked in her most patronising tone.

'This class, and this book,' he replied coolly.

'Well, Mr Weasley, right now we are reading,' she replied.

'Doesn't change the fact that I have a question,' said Ron.

'Very well, what is your question?'

'Aren't we a little old for "Basics for Beginners"? We are all fifth year students who will be taking our O.W.L.s next June; shouldn't we be learning new spells and what's actually on the syllabus so we can pass Defence?' Ron asked.

'You will be learning new spells, Mr Weasley, although I cannot think of a single reason why children such as yourselves would need to use said spells, particularly in my classroom,' Umbridge replied patronisingly.

Ron saw Harry's head shoot up and was about to raise his hand before he spoke again.

'There are plenty of reasons to be able to defend yourself, even while you're still in school, from bullies, for example,' said Ron.

'If you are being bullied, Mr Weasley, there are teachers you can go to,' she simpered.

'I was using bullies as an example, and teachers aren't always around. I'll give you another example; what about someone with a grievance against you, how would you defend yourself from someone who is beyond reason?' Ron asked.

Umbridge stood there doing an impersonation of a fish before Ron spoke again.

'Are you going to be teaching us new spells and allowing us to practice new spells in class?'

'The new course that the Ministry of Magic has designed for all students is Theory based, meaning that if you all study the theory hard enough it should be sufficient to help you pass any Defence Against the Dark Arts test – whether it is an end of year test, O.W.L, or N.E.W.T. examination,' replied Umbridge.

'So, just to clarify, all students are expected to be able to perform spells on the first try during their actual examination, without any kind of practice at all?' Ron asked.

'If you study the theory well enough, yes,' she replied.

'That's interesting … and impossible,' said Ron, coolly. 'Are you and the Ministry prepared for the fall out?'

'I do not understand what you mean, Mr Weasley,' Umbridge replied confused.

'Well, are the Ministry and yourself prepared for the backlash from angry parents when their sons or daughters fail their exams? Let's say ninety-eight per cent of the students fail whatever exam they have taken, that's still a lot of angry parents who will send Howler after Howler to the Minister, to you, and others who have helped design this course, for example; Draco Malfoy tells his father why he failed his Defence Owl, he tells his father word for word what you just told us. Susan Bones, also fails, she tells her aunt who is the Head of DMLE, again word for word what you just told us, that's two students from prominent pureblood families, and most of the blame is going to go on you, Professor, as the teacher and figurehead of this new course, so if I may, I suggest you begin teaching us what is actually on the syllabus instead of this nonsense,' said Ron.

He sat back down and waited for Umbridge to say something but she remained silent as she was pondering over his words, while every student, including Potter and Longbottom, agreed with everything he had said.

Unfortunately, it was then that Potter stood up and started to ask his own questions, but his questions were about Voldemort, they and his anger were met with Umbridge giving him detention, before referring him to Professor McGonagall.

Once the class was over, Ron stormed back to his dorm at high speed while Hermione struggled to keep up with him, once inside, Ron exploded.

'That stupid fucking arse!' he exclaimed, 'why couldn't he keep his fucking mouth shut? Why the fuck did he have to say all that about Voldemort? Now I expect the stupid twat has detention with that twisted toad for the whole fucking week! Well, serves him right, come on, love, let's get some dinner.'

'At least we'll find out if she harms Potter during the detention,' said Hermione.

'I doubt it, the stupid git won't say anything, and she'll know that,' replied Ron.

'In that case we need to speak to Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall,' replied Hermione, as they made their way to dinner.


	19. Caught in the Act

Chapter Nineteen: Caught in the Act

It was getting late as Hermione was pacing the Headmaster's study. She, along with Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and the real Alastor Moody were waiting for Ron to return. Ron had borrowed an invisibility cloak from Moody and had gone to spy on Umbridge while she had Harry Potter in detention. Ron and Hermione had not made it to the Great Hall for dinner; instead they had met Dumbledore on the way and together had come up with the plan for Ron to spy on Umbridge using an invisibility cloak.

The clock on Dumbledore's desk chimed as ten o'clock arrived.

Hermione was about to speak when the door opened all by itself before Ron's head and body were unveiled as he removed the invisibility cloak. He was pale and looked like he was going to be sick as he managed to fall into a chair.

'What happened, laddie?' asked Moody.

'Lines, she made him write lines … with a blood quill,' replied Ron, shakily.

'That's sick and completely illegal; she has to go, Albus!' exclaimed Professor McGonagall.

'I agree, Minerva, but we need to catch her in the act,' replied Dumbledore.

'Do you have any Aurors in the Order?' asked Ron.

'We do, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, why?' replied Moody.

'Well, what we do is that we hide both of them in her office using a cloak or a Disillusionment Charm, along with the four Heads of House, they catch her in the act of making him write the lines, she gets brought here and the Headmaster fires her, and then makes Moody the new DADA teacher, and if the Ministry has a problem with that, remind them of what their supposed "suitable candidate" did,' said Ron.

There was silence in the room until Moody said, 'You ever thought of a career as an Auror, laddie?'

'Yeah, why?' replied Ron.

'You should consider it, you have a mind for strategizing that most seasoned Aurors can only dream of,' said Moody.

'Er, thanks,' said Ron, as his ears went red.

Hermione beamed at him and knew that Ron was not used to praise, and certainly not from somebody he idolised. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze before they both bid the professors and Moody goodnight.

The following evening, Dumbledore was back in his study, and he was pacing. He was reminded of Hermione Granger doing the exact same thing yesterday evening. Deciding that pacing about in his study was a waste of time, he sat down behind his desk once more. This turned out to be excellent timing as there was a knock on the door.

'Enter,' he called.

The door opened and in walked the Heads of House, Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks with Umbridge in tow, and a confused Harry Potter.

'It seems your hunch was right, Headmaster,' said Kingsley, 'Madam Umbridge was harming Mr Potter by making him write lines with a blood quill.'

Dumbledore did not look at Harry directly, but saw his jaw drop.

'Oh, it was obvious, really, from the moment she entered my school she had not just the Ministry's agenda to enforce but her own. The unforgivable way she interrupted me during the start of term feast showed me that she was arrogant and thought herself more important than school protocol, so I had a feeling that she would have the same disregard for the law,' said Dumbledore.

Umbridge opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again, thinking better of it.

'You are fired, Dolores,' said Dumbledore, angrily, 'Aurors, please take this filth out of my school at once.'

Harry watched as the two Aurors escorted Umbridge out of Dumbledore's study.

'Minerva, would you mind taking Mr Potter to the Hospital Wing, I imagine Madam Pomfrey will be able to give him something for the scars on the back of his hand, and make sure she writes a full report on them, after all, we would not want the Ministry to cover this up, would we?' said Dumbledore.

'Come along, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall, in a crisp tone before chivvying him out and to the Hospital Wing.

Ten minutes later and Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks had taken Umbridge to the holding cells. Unfortunately, Cornelius Fudge and Amelia Bones were having a discussion with Rufus Scrimegeour, the Head Auror, about Merlin knows what.

'What are you doing with Dolores?' asked a shocked Cornelius Fudge.

'We and the four Heads of House caught Madam Umbridge red-handed forcing a minor to write lines with a dark, illegal object – namely a blood quill,' replied Kingsley.

Fudge went pale.

'No, Minister, it's all a lie!' screeched Umbridge.

'We were Disillusioned in her office as she told her victim to start writing "I must not tell lies", the poor bugger has got it etched into his skin and the Matron at Hogwarts will be writing a full report, and Dumbledore sacked her on the spot,' said Tonks.

'I see,' said Madam Bones, 'in that case she should be locked up until she stands trial, wouldn't you agree, Minister?'

'I, er, yes, I do, I must speak with Dumbledore about finding a replacement …' replied Fudge.

'No need for that, the Headmaster has already found someone,' said Kingsley.

Fudge blinked and said, 'Who?'

'Alastor Moody,' said Tonks, proudly.

Fudge turned red and left for his office.

Back in Dumbledore's study, the Headmaster was talking to Moody.

'Please, Alastor, do try not to jinx your pupils into jelly, and remember that we _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment.'

'Pity, a good, sharp shock would do the Malfoy boy some good,' Moody growled, 'especially if he's anything like his father.'

'I believe your impostor turned him into a ferret, just try not to make too much mess,' replied Dumbledore.

Moody grunted and said, 'It'll be worth it to see that little shit piss himself.'

Before Dumbledore could retort, the sound of a Floo call interrupted them. Dumbledore turned to face his fireplace to see the face of the Minister himself glaring at him.

'Good evening to you, Cornelius, how are you?' greeted Dumbledore.

'Spare me the polite nonsense, and tell me on what authority you have on dismissing Dolores Umbridge and hiring Alastor Moody?' he yelled.

Dumbledore told the minister what had happened and that Umbridge was caught red-handed, he also told the minister that he had every right and all the authority he needed to hire a competent and fully qualified teacher in Moody to teach Defence, and considering that he, Fudge, chose Umbridge for the job he had no grounds to criticise the Headmaster on his hiring policy.

'Furthermore, Cornelius,' Dumbledore continued, 'I am not going to allow any further interference at this school, you have no authority here, and I will not allow any more of your foolish and dangerous underlings like Dolores Umbridge into my school to disrupt the education of my students, now, goodnight!'

Dumbledore ended the call and turned back to Moody and said, 'Do you know; that felt good.'

Moody chuckled before bidding his old friend goodnight and made for the office he had chosen.


End file.
